Stressed about Turkey Day travel from Charlotte? If you wait a month, it might get better
If your flight leaving Charlotte is delayed for Thanksgiving, you may have better luck next month for holiday or New Year’s travel.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is second in the country for flights leaving on time during the winter holiday season, according to a report on delays across the 100 busiest U.S. locations.
More than 17% of flights from CLT had delayed departures over the last decade, based on data reported by Upgraded Points, a travel company. Data from the U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics was used for the report which used the Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 time period from 2014 to 2022.
The airport is the fifth-busiest airport in the world. Last year, Charlotte Douglas handled 505,589 arrivals and departures, and had more than 47 million passengers.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was fifth at 19.4% of flights being delayed in mid-December through early January. The other three airports in the top five with Charlotte and Atlanta were in Hawaii.
El Paso’s airport in Texas topped the list for having the most delays at 32.7%, followed by Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 30.6% and Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico at 30.5%
Coming to Charlotte
For arrivals, Charlotte Douglas was 27th, with 21.3% of arrivals delayed during the winter holiday period.
Airports in the Carolinas that fared better included the Piedmont Triad International Airport (fifth at 18.8%), Charleston International Airport (sixth at 19.3%) and Myrtle Beach International Airport (8th at 19.4%).
Lihue Airport in Kauai was first for having the lowest percentage of delayed arrivals at 17.3%. Chicago Midway International Airport had the dubious distinction of leading the U.S. with 30.6% of arrivals being delayed, followed by Dallas Love Field at 30.2% and Denver International Airport at 29.4%.
Airline delays
American Airlines, which has its second-largest hub in Charlotte, was seventh among 10 of the largest U.S. airlines for flight delays at 21.4%. The airline accounts for 90% of flights at Charlotte Douglas.
Among other top airlines, Frontier had the most flight delays according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation at 31.9%. Southwest followed at 31.8% and JetBlue was 30.8%.
Reasons for delays
Weather is the leading cause of delays and cancellations, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Airspace System. As of Nov. 12, in 2023 it has caused 73% of total delay minutes for passengers.
Some of the other reasons for delays involved the amount of available airplanes, runway issues, staffing and equipment problems.
