Airports › Raleigh/Durham (RDU) › May 2026
Airport month · May 2026
Raleigh-Durham International in May 2026
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 May 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 4,884 domestic departures from Raleigh-Durham International (RDU). 81.1% left less than 15 minutes late and 80.5% reached their destination on time; 0.9% were cancelled.
Nationally that month, 77.1% of flights departed on time and 77.6% arrived on time, so RDU departures were 4.0 points above the national departure figure.
A year earlier, in May 2025, the airport had 4,800 departures with 80.0% leaving on time: a change of +1.1 points, with flights up 2%.
Flights arriving at RDU that month were on time 79.8% of the time (4,887 scheduled arrivals).
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 48%, air carrier 27% and national aviation system 25%.
- On time 80.5%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 18.4%
- Cancelled 0.9%
- Diverted 0.2%
May 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation
| Measure | May 2026 | May 2025 | RDU, 12 months to Jul 2026 | All reported flights, May 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Departed on time | 81.1% | 80.0% | 77.5% | 77.1% |
| Arrived on time | 80.5% | 77.2% | 77.1% | 77.6% |
| Cancelled | 0.9% | 1.2% | 2.3% | 0.9% |
| Average departure delay (late minutes only) | 13.7 min | 15.5 min | 17.6 min | 16.0 min |
| Scheduled departures a day | 163 | 160 | 152 | 20,391 |
| Scheduled departures | 4,884 | 4,800 | 55,461 | 611,735 |
Airlines that month
| Reporting carrier | Flights | Share | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL Delta Air Lines | 1,047 | 21% | 84.9% | 0.4 min | 1.1% |
| AA American Airlines | 845 | 17% | 80.9% | 5.3 min | 1.1% |
| WN Southwest Airlines | 763 | 16% | 74.0% | 8.5 min | 0.1% |
| YX Republic Airline | 710 | 15% | 82.0% | -2.3 min | 1.8% |
| UA United Airlines | 528 | 11% | 86.7% | -2.2 min | 0.2% |
| F9 Frontier Airlines | 389 | 8% | 76.1% | 13.3 min | 0.3% |
| B6 JetBlue Airways | 248 | 5% | 83.1% | 1.0 min | 0.0% |
| OH PSA Airlines | 145 | 3% | 64.8% | 12.7 min | 2.8% |
| MQ Envoy Air | 103 | 2% | 75.7% | 5.4 min | 1.0% |
| AS Alaska Airlines | 93 | 2% | 75.3% | -5.5 min | 1.1% |
| OO SkyWest Airlines | 12 | 0% | 66.7% | 9.3 min | 0.0% |
| NK Spirit Airlines | 1 | 0% | 100.0% | 1.0 min | 0.0% |
Busiest routes that month
| Route | Cities | Flights | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RDU–ATL | Raleigh/Durham to Atlanta | 390 | 85.6% | 0.9 min | 1.0% |
| RDU–ORD | Raleigh/Durham to Chicago | 374 | 79.7% | 9.1 min | 1.1% |
| RDU–CLT | Raleigh/Durham to Charlotte | 267 | 85.0% | -3.2 min | 0.0% |
| RDU–BOS | Raleigh/Durham to Boston | 260 | 82.7% | 0.2 min | 0.4% |
| RDU–PHL | Raleigh/Durham to Philadelphia | 247 | 80.6% | 1.8 min | 1.6% |
| RDU–MCO | Raleigh/Durham to Orlando | 229 | 76.0% | 12.1 min | 0.4% |
| RDU–LGA | Raleigh/Durham to New York | 207 | 77.3% | 5.0 min | 1.9% |
| RDU–MIA | Raleigh/Durham to Miami | 203 | 77.8% | 16.0 min | 0.0% |
| RDU–DFW | Raleigh/Durham to Dallas/Fort Worth | 202 | 76.7% | 0.8 min | 3.0% |
| RDU–BNA | Raleigh/Durham to Nashville | 192 | 74.0% | 8.0 min | 0.0% |
| RDU–EWR | Raleigh/Durham to Newark | 174 | 90.8% | -13.3 min | 1.1% |
| RDU–DCA | Raleigh/Durham to Washington | 166 | 63.3% | 11.2 min | 3.6% |
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes
Questions and answers
How many flights left RDU on time in May 2026?
81.1% of 4,884 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 80.5% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 77.1% and 77.6%.
How does that compare with a year earlier?
In May 2025, 80.0% of 4,800 departures left on time and 1.2% were cancelled, against 81.1% and 0.9% in May 2026.
Provenance
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for May 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.