Charlotte airport ranks low for on-time departures
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A plane at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Photo: Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is tied for 69th out of 104 other U.S. airports for annual on-time departures in 2023, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report from the latest Transportation Department data.
Why it matters: Charlotte mirrors the national trend, which is a big upswing compared to December 2022, when Southwest Airlines' epic meltdown dragged down the industrywide average to about 70% for the month.
By the numbers: For all of 2023, 79.3% of flights departing Charlotte were on time, which is close to its pre-pandemic average of 79.5%.
- By the end of the year, on-time departures improved, with more than 82% of flights out of CLT taking off on time in December.
Zoom out: Charlotte is one of the busiest airports in the world. It experienced record passenger traffic last year with 53.4 million passengers, per airport officials.
- American Airlines makes up 90% of Charlotte's flights, per an American Airlines spokesperson. Charlotte is American's second-largest hub behind Dallas.
Between the lines: Several factors, including weather and airline issues, can affect each airport's on-time performance.
- American improved its on-time departure performance by 25% during winter holiday travel in Charlotte.
What we're watching: Airport officials expect upcoming spring break travel to be their busiest yet. Passenger traffic is forecast to be up by 15% compared to last year, with March 28-29 and April 1 the busiest days, per the airport.
