Route profile
JFK→CLT
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from New York to Charlotte, 541 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 43% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,663 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
JFK → CLT arrives on time 82.3% of the time; the return trip, CLT → JFK, arrives on time 73.3% of the time, a 9.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
JFK → CLT spends 35.9 minutes on the ground on a 541-mile trip: 24.7 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at JFK and 11.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at CLT.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where JFK to CLT differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
JFK to CLT is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 PM: 84.8% arrive on time, 17.1 points ahead of the 67.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.4 points.
JFK to CLT struggles most at 3 PM: 63.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 11.7 points behind the 74.8% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.6 points.
JFK to CLT holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 83.6% on time to their 78.1%, a 5.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 6.4 points.
March is kinder to JFK to CLT than to routes of similar length: 84.3% on time against 78.7%, 5.6 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.4 points.
American Airlines does better on JFK to CLT than on its routes of similar length: 82.2% on time here, 74.7% there, 7.5 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7.1 points.
JFK to CLT against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 84.8% | routes of similar length | 67.7% | +17.1 pts | 197 here, 81,354 there |
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 63.1% | routes of similar length | 74.8% | −11.7 pts | 222 here, 97,356 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 83.6% | routes of similar length | 78.1% | +5.5 pts | 1,210 here, 249,975 there |
| Month: March | 84.3% | routes of similar length | 78.7% | +5.6 pts | 594 here, 135,993 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 82.2% | routes of similar length | 74.7% | +7.5 pts | 5,664 here, 250,676 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 541 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why JFK → CLT flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
JFK → CLT cancelled 208 of 8,663 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 42. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 59.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 70 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 208 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
124 cancellations, 59.6% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
62 cancellations, 29.8% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
22 cancellations, 10.6% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
208 coded cancellations were recorded on JFK → CLT; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
40 min late
against a median of 12 min early
Percentiles over 8,663 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at CLT after arriving from JFK.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 28% | High risk |
| 45 min | 17% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.2% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.9% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 2.40% of the time and diverts 0.21% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,437 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 40 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,663 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
JFK → CLT flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.3% of the time, against 69.5% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 19.8 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.2% on time from 966 flights
- 7 AM: 86.2% on time from 881 flights
- 8 AM: 87.9% on time from 768 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 85.0% on time from 137 flights
- 11 AM: 85.3% on time from 1,449 flights
- 12 PM: 87.8% on time from 331 flights
- 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 80.5% on time from 1,515 flights
- 3 PM: 63.1% on time from 225 flights
- 4 PM: 76.6% on time from 367 flights
- 5 PM: 67.1% on time from 430 flights
- 6 PM: 66.7% on time from 171 flights
- 7 PM: 72.1% on time from 936 flights
- 8 PM: 84.8% on time from 205 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why JFK → CLT runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for JFK → CLT. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on JFK → CLT, at 37.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 89.3% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 69.5%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 5,782 | 82.2% | 1.87% | -11 min | 7.6% |
| Endeavor Air | 2,062 | 81.8% | 4.12% | -13 min | 6.7% |
| Republic Airways | 811 | 84.0% | 1.85% | -14 min | 6.3% |
American Airlines flew 66.8% of the 8,655 flights listed. Endeavor Air cancelled 4.12% of its flights here against 1.85% for Republic Airways.
Republic Airways arrived on time 2.2 percentage points more often than Endeavor Air on this route.
Other ways to fly New York to Charlotte
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA→CLT New York to Charlotte | 15,860 | 80.2% | 3.06% | -11 min | 54 |
| JFK→CLT this route New York to Charlotte | 8,663 | 82.3% | 2.40% | -12 min | 63 |
JFK → CLT is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 82.3% on time, against 80.2% for LGA → CLT.
Flying to CLT from the New York area? Compare JFK, LGA, EWR for CLT, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.8 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 83.6%
- Feb: 86.4%
- Mar: 84.3%
- Apr: 85.0%
- May: 81.4%
- Jun: 77.6%
- Jul: 71.3%
- Aug: 77.9%
- Sep: 83.7%
- Oct: 87.6%
- Nov: 88.3%
- Dec: 82.5%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 17.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 75.1% from 297 flights
- August 2023: 82.3% from 324 flights
- September 2023: 83.0% from 328 flights
- October 2023: 92.4% from 314 flights
- November 2023: 89.8% from 293 flights
- December 2023: 89.2% from 288 flights
- January 2024: 83.5% from 263 flights
- February 2024: 90.5% from 245 flights
- March 2024: 83.3% from 248 flights
- April 2024: 81.9% from 285 flights
- May 2024: 77.6% from 308 flights
- June 2024: 80.6% from 300 flights
- July 2024: 63.0% from 307 flights
- August 2024: 70.6% from 336 flights
- September 2024: 83.9% from 357 flights
- October 2024: 89.3% from 373 flights
- November 2024: 88.4% from 303 flights
- December 2024: 83.8% from 274 flights
- January 2025: 81.9% from 182 flights
- February 2025: 86.7% from 164 flights
- March 2025: 87.7% from 204 flights
- April 2025: 89.7% from 165 flights
- May 2025: 81.5% from 151 flights
- June 2025: 71.9% from 172 flights
- July 2025: 76.6% from 181 flights
- August 2025: 83.5% from 158 flights
- September 2025: 84.3% from 206 flights
- October 2025: 77.7% from 217 flights
- November 2025: 85.5% from 174 flights
- December 2025: 68.5% from 166 flights
- January 2026: 85.9% from 154 flights
- February 2026: 77.7% from 137 flights
- March 2026: 81.4% from 150 flights
- April 2026: 85.9% from 149 flights
- May 2026: 87.7% from 180 flights
- June 2026: 78.1% from 156 flights
- July 2026: 74.3% from 154 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.9% against 82.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 1.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,663 JFK → CLT flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed