Route profile
RDU→MIA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Raleigh–Durham to Miami, 700 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 32% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,457 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
RDU → MIA arrives on time 78.1% of the time; the return trip, MIA → RDU, arrives on time 71.1% of the time, a 7.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
RDU → MIA spends 26.6 minutes on the ground on a 700-mile trip: 16.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at RDU and 10.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at MIA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where RDU to MIA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
RDU to MIA struggles most at 5 PM: 55.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 13.5 points behind the 68.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.8 points.
RDU to MIA holds up on Thursdays better than routes of similar length do: 79.4% on time to their 76.4%, a 3 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 2.6 points.
In August, RDU to MIA runs 6.5 points below routes of similar length, 69.5% on time to 76.0%. Against all other routes the gap is 7 points.
April is kinder to RDU to MIA than to routes of similar length: 84.3% on time against 79.3%, 5 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 4.4 points.
Delta Air Lines does better on RDU to MIA than on its routes of similar length: 84.5% on time here, 80.7% there, 3.8 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 3 points.
RDU to MIA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 55.0% | routes of similar length | 68.5% | −13.5 pts | 404 here, 125,592 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 79.4% | routes of similar length | 76.4% | +3.0 pts | 1,073 here, 317,135 there |
| Month: August | 69.5% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | −6.5 pts | 571 here, 177,097 there |
| Month: April | 84.3% | routes of similar length | 79.3% | +5.0 pts | 675 here, 173,690 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 84.5% | routes of similar length | 80.7% | +3.8 pts | 1,103 here, 323,504 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 700 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 RDU → MIA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
RDU → MIA cancelled 115 of 7,457 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 65. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 75.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 86 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 115 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.
87 cancellations, 75.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
23 cancellations, 20.0% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
5 cancellations, 4.3% 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.
115 coded cancellations were recorded on RDU → MIA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
52 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 7,457 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MIA after arriving from RDU.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 21% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.7% | Some 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 1.54% of the time and diverts 0.24% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,324 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 52 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,457 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
RDU → MIA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 86.6% of the time, against 59.9% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 26.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 93.1% on time from 471 flights
- 6 AM: 87.7% on time from 1,092 flights
- 7 AM: 89.8% on time from 466 flights
- 8 AM: 82.7% on time from 1,452 flights
- 9 AM: 80.8% on time from 124 flights
- 10 AM: 86.5% on time from 217 flights
- 11 AM: 80.7% on time from 903 flights
- 12 PM: 74.3% on time from 238 flights
- 1 PM to 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 64.8% on time from 221 flights
- 5 PM: 55.0% on time from 413 flights
- 6 PM: 66.8% on time from 590 flights
- 7 PM: 66.1% on time from 901 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why RDU → MIA 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 RDU → MIA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on RDU → MIA, at 45.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 86.6% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 59.9%.
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 | 5,069 | 77.7% | 1.48% | -6 min | 9.3% |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,120 | 84.5% | 1.43% | -9 min | 6.5% |
| Envoy Air | 639 | 77.6% | 0.63% | -3 min | 6.2% |
| Frontier Airlines | 473 | 69.7% | 3.81% | -5 min | 14.1% |
American Airlines flew 69.4% of the 7,301 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 3.81% of its flights here against 0.63% for Envoy Air.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 14.8 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
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 5.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 76.2%
- Feb: 81.3%
- Mar: 79.9%
- Apr: 84.3%
- May: 78.5%
- Jun: 74.9%
- Jul: 71.6%
- Aug: 69.5%
- Sep: 82.0%
- Oct: 82.2%
- Nov: 81.7%
- Dec: 77.7%
August is historically the weakest month and April the strongest, a spread of 14.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 74.1% from 186 flights
- August 2023: 80.3% from 186 flights
- September 2023: 78.9% from 177 flights
- October 2023: 85.0% from 180 flights
- November 2023: 83.8% from 173 flights
- December 2023: 73.0% from 196 flights
- January 2024: 67.2% from 200 flights
- February 2024: 79.9% from 175 flights
- March 2024: 79.1% from 202 flights
- April 2024: 83.9% from 225 flights
- May 2024: 77.2% from 195 flights
- June 2024: 65.8% from 205 flights
- July 2024: 72.9% from 217 flights
- August 2024: 59.6% from 203 flights
- September 2024: 84.3% from 190 flights
- October 2024: 84.1% from 194 flights
- November 2024: 84.7% from 189 flights
- December 2024: 82.3% from 205 flights
- January 2025: 84.7% from 220 flights
- February 2025: 87.7% from 208 flights
- March 2025: 84.2% from 243 flights
- April 2025: 85.9% from 260 flights
- May 2025: 80.4% from 227 flights
- June 2025: 75.8% from 218 flights
- July 2025: 68.8% from 224 flights
- August 2025: 69.2% from 196 flights
- September 2025: 82.7% from 180 flights
- October 2025: 77.7% from 194 flights
- November 2025: 76.5% from 185 flights
- December 2025: 77.7% from 189 flights
- January 2026: 76.0% from 200 flights
- February 2026: 75.4% from 183 flights
- March 2026: 75.4% from 204 flights
- April 2026: 82.6% from 197 flights
- May 2026: 77.8% from 203 flights
- June 2026: 82.8% from 195 flights
- July 2026: 71.3% from 233 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.0% against 80.3% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,457 RDU → MIA 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