Raleigh-Durham International in March 2026

73.3%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 March 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 4,658 domestic departures from Raleigh-Durham International (RDU). 73.3% left less than 15 minutes late and 74.8% reached their destination on time; 2.8% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 72.8% of flights departed on time and 73.2% arrived on time, so RDU departures were 0.5 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in March 2025, the airport had 4,579 departures with 82.4% leaving on time: a change of −9.1 points, with flights up 2%.

Flights arriving at RDU that month were on time 70.2% of the time (4,660 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 47%, national aviation system 26% and air carrier 24%.

On time 74.8%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 22.1%
Cancelled 2.8%
Diverted 0.3%

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

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

Measure	Mar 2026	Mar 2025	RDU, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Mar 2026
Departed on time	73.3%	82.4%	77.5%	72.8%
Arrived on time	74.8%	82.3%	77.1%	73.2%
Cancelled	2.8%	1.0%	2.3%	2.9%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	20.3 min	14.7 min	17.6 min	20.3 min
Scheduled departures a day	155	153	152	20,403
Scheduled departures	4,658	4,579	55,461	612,102

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DL Delta Air Lines	984	21%	79.7%	5.6 min	3.2%
WN Southwest Airlines	763	16%	77.1%	4.0 min	1.7%
YX Republic Airline	706	15%	67.8%	14.1 min	4.5%
AA American Airlines	686	15%	80.9%	2.9 min	1.6%
UA United Airlines	533	11%	80.9%	4.8 min	0.6%
F9 Frontier Airlines	329	7%	64.7%	24.9 min	4.6%
B6 JetBlue Airways	245	5%	79.2%	4.1 min	1.2%
MQ Envoy Air	165	4%	66.1%	18.9 min	1.2%
OH PSA Airlines	152	3%	59.2%	19.8 min	11.8%
NK Spirit Airlines	56	1%	28.6%	59.4 min	5.4%
AS Alaska Airlines	39	1%	61.5%	16.3 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
RDU–ATL	Raleigh/Durham to Atlanta	375	76.5%	8.6 min	3.7%
RDU–ORD	Raleigh/Durham to Chicago	316	65.8%	26.9 min	2.8%
RDU–CLT	Raleigh/Durham to Charlotte	273	84.6%	2.8 min	1.5%
RDU–MCO	Raleigh/Durham to Orlando	259	69.5%	17.9 min	3.5%
RDU–BOS	Raleigh/Durham to Boston	225	80.9%	4.1 min	3.1%
RDU–BNA	Raleigh/Durham to Nashville	205	79.5%	3.5 min	1.0%
RDU–LGA	Raleigh/Durham to New York	204	55.4%	22.5 min	11.3%
RDU–MIA	Raleigh/Durham to Miami	204	72.1%	5.7 min	4.4%
RDU–JFK	Raleigh/Durham to New York	197	73.6%	10.0 min	1.5%
RDU–PHL	Raleigh/Durham to Philadelphia	197	72.6%	8.7 min	5.6%
RDU–DCA	Raleigh/Durham to Washington	177	61.6%	19.3 min	6.2%
RDU–EWR	Raleigh/Durham to Newark	175	69.7%	6.3 min	0.6%

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), March 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Mar 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	23.5%	33.5%	19,980
Late-arriving aircraft	46.9%	39.3%	39,954
National Aviation System	26.1%	21.0%	22,230
Extreme weather	2.2%	5.9%	1,884
Security	1.3%	0.2%	1,123

85,171 delay minutes on 1,029 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 March 2026?

73.3% of 4,658 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 74.8% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 72.8% and 73.2%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In March 2025, 82.4% of 4,579 departures left on time and 1.0% were cancelled, against 73.3% and 2.8% in March 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for March 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.