Raleigh-Durham International in January 2026

75.5%departed on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report.

In January 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 4,163 domestic departures from Raleigh-Durham International (RDU). 75.5% left less than 15 minutes late and 74.2% reached their destination on time; 8.2% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 75.6% of flights departed on time and 75.3% arrived on time, so RDU departures were level with the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in January 2025, the airport had 4,205 departures with 82.6% leaving on time: a change of −7.1 points, with flights down 1%.

Flights arriving at RDU that month were on time 72.4% of the time (4,161 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 44%, air carrier 33% and national aviation system 21%.

On time 74.2%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 17.4%
Cancelled 8.2%
Diverted 0.2%

Every scheduled departure from RDU in January 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

January 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Jan 2026	Jan 2025	RDU, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Jan 2026
Departed on time	75.5%	82.6%	77.5%	75.6%
Arrived on time	74.2%	79.9%	77.1%	75.3%
Cancelled	8.2%	2.9%	2.3%	4.7%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	15.0 min	13.9 min	17.6 min	16.7 min
Scheduled departures a day	139	140	152	18,133
Scheduled departures	4,163	4,205	55,461	544,003

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DL Delta Air Lines	889	21%	79.8%	0.1 min	5.7%
WN Southwest Airlines	677	16%	81.4%	-5.4 min	8.0%
YX Republic Airline	647	16%	67.7%	6.4 min	10.7%
AA American Airlines	606	15%	71.5%	12.3 min	10.2%
UA United Airlines	483	12%	78.9%	0.2 min	5.6%
F9 Frontier Airlines	281	7%	66.5%	15.2 min	6.0%
B6 JetBlue Airways	203	5%	68.5%	4.3 min	12.3%
MQ Envoy Air	169	4%	68.0%	12.2 min	8.3%
OH PSA Airlines	128	3%	68.0%	17.9 min	10.2%
NK Spirit Airlines	42	1%	52.4%	17.0 min	11.9%
AS Alaska Airlines	36	1%	72.2%	3.3 min	5.6%
OO SkyWest Airlines	2	0%	50.0%	-4.0 min	50.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
RDU–ATL	Raleigh/Durham to Atlanta	356	85.7%	-5.9 min	6.5%
RDU–ORD	Raleigh/Durham to Chicago	233	69.5%	7.2 min	7.3%
RDU–MCO	Raleigh/Durham to Orlando	226	69.9%	6.5 min	7.1%
RDU–CLT	Raleigh/Durham to Charlotte	223	67.7%	18.7 min	11.7%
RDU–LGA	Raleigh/Durham to New York	218	69.3%	5.2 min	10.1%
RDU–MIA	Raleigh/Durham to Miami	200	69.5%	13.8 min	8.0%
RDU–PHL	Raleigh/Durham to Philadelphia	194	69.6%	15.7 min	7.2%
RDU–BNA	Raleigh/Durham to Nashville	186	73.7%	0.9 min	11.3%
RDU–JFK	Raleigh/Durham to New York	184	69.6%	8.2 min	10.3%
RDU–DFW	Raleigh/Durham to Dallas/Fort Worth	180	72.8%	15.2 min	11.1%
RDU–DCA	Raleigh/Durham to Washington	176	60.2%	14.6 min	11.9%
RDU–BOS	Raleigh/Durham to Boston	171	74.9%	-2.9 min	9.4%

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), January 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Jan 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	33.0%	37.3%	18,217
Late-arriving aircraft	43.6%	35.0%	24,094
National Aviation System	20.7%	18.0%	11,415
Extreme weather	2.8%	9.6%	1,552
Security	0.0%	0.1%	0

55,278 delay minutes on 725 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left RDU on time in January 2026?

75.5% of 4,163 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 74.2% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 75.6% and 75.3%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In January 2025, 82.6% of 4,205 departures left on time and 2.9% were cancelled, against 75.5% and 8.2% in January 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for January 2026; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for RDU · methodology · corrections.