77% of flights leaving Charleston (CHS) arrived on time over the past 12 months, right at the national average of 76%. That ranks 39 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 76 flights leave CHS on a typical day; 2.6% were cancelled. 77% pushed back from the gate on time, so most of the lateness is already there when the flight leaves the gate.
At a glance
- Best hour to fly: 5 a.m. (93% on time). Worst: 8 p.m. (61%).
- Best month: October (85%). Worst: July (69%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (79%), vs JetBlue at 67%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (45% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (79% → 77%).
How late?
The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for flights leaving CHS: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 49% of the time. About 1 in 12 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 54 three hours or more; 2.6% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early77%
- 15–30 min late6.5%
- 30–60 min late5.5%
- 1–2 hours late4.5%
- 2–3 hours late1.8%
- 3+ hours late1.9%
- Diverted0.4%
- Cancelled2.6%
Share of all 27,766 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of CHS
Time of day matters more at CHS than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 93% of the time; at 8 p.m. it was 61%, a 32-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 89% on time against 66% for the evening bank (5–10 p.m.). Early planes usually start the day at the airport, so they haven't had a chance to pick up delays elsewhere. By evening a late inbound aircraft, a crew running out of duty hours or an afternoon thunderstorm can push one late flight into the next. Cancellations cluster too: 8 p.m. departures were cancelled 4.4% of the time, against 2.6% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at CHS was a 5 a.m. departure in November (96% on time); the least, 8 p.m. in July (47%). If you can only move one thing, move the hour. Departure hour usually shifts the odds more than the month does.
Each cell: on-time rate for that departure hour in that calendar month, 2023–2026. Find your travel month, then look along the row for the greenest hour.
Best and worst months
July is the hardest month at CHS, with 69% of flights on time across 2023–2026; October is the best at 85%. Summer (June–August) runs 12 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 5 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (6.6% of flights).
Airlines at CHS
American Airlines runs 35% of departures from CHS. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Delta Air Lines was the most reliable (79% on time) and JetBlue the least (67%), a 12-point difference. On a route where both fly, that difference is worth more than a small fare gap.
| Airline | Departures | On time | Left on time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 9,586 | 77% | 77% | 2.7% | −9 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 7,518 | 79% | 79% | 3.5% | −10 min |
| United Airlines | 4,421 | 79% | 82% | 1.9% | −8 min |
| Southwest Airlines | 3,661 | 77% | 75% | 0.9% | −4 min |
| JetBlue | 1,651 | 67% | 66% | 3.8% | −4 min |
| Spirit Airlines | 381 | 61% | 64% | 6.0% | 0 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 347 | 72% | 78% | 0.6% | +2 min |
| Allegiant Air | 126 | 67% | 64% | 0.0% | −0 min |
Why flights are late at CHS
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At CHS, 45% of delay minutes came from late-arriving aircraft: the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Next is the airlines themselves at 28%. That's why the first flight of the morning is the safest bet: it has no earlier flight to inherit a delay from. Of the 726 cancellations, 52% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 17 minutes, about typical for a large U.S. airport.
CHS vs nearby airports
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHS Charleston | — | 27,766 | 77% | 2.6% |
| HHH Hilton Head | 60 mi | 2,405 | 79% | 1.9% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 77% of CHS departures were on time, against 79% in the 12 months before, a decline of 3 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (85%); the worst, July 2026 (69%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Saturday, Jan 31, 2026, when 64% of 55 scheduled departures were cancelled. Days like that are usually a major storm, a system outage or a holiday peak hitting bad weather. No average predicts them, so on a stormy forecast, check your airline's travel waivers.
| Date | Departures | Cancelled | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 31, 2026 | 55 | 64% | 33% |
| Jan 25, 2026 | 68 | 54% | 15% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 69 | 42% | 25% |
| Feb 1, 2026 | 68 | 32% | 49% |
| Feb 23, 2026 | 72 | 31% | 64% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 82 | 28% | 30% |
| Jul 21, 2026 | 76 | 25% | 55% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | 61 | 23% | 46% |
| Feb 22, 2026 | 72 | 22% | 57% |
| Jul 18, 2026 | 80 | 20% | 39% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from CHS, each airline's final departure was cancelled 4.0% of the time, against 2.2% for its earlier flights (1.8× as often). Late in the day crews run short on duty hours, aircraft arrive late from elsewhere, and with no later flight to fold passengers into, cancelling is easier for the airline. 2.6% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was Delta Air Lines to New York (11.5% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA New York | Delta Air Lines | 6:21 p.m. | 11.5% | 2.8% | 59% |
| DCA Washington | American Airlines | 7:47 p.m. | 8.8% | 4.4% | 51% |
| JFK New York | JetBlue | 8:14 p.m. | 7.5% | 3.0% | 59% |
| LGA New York | American Airlines | 5:51 p.m. | 7.5% | 2.6% | 66% |
| JFK New York | Delta Air Lines | 5:34 p.m. | 7.4% | 2.5% | 66% |
| EWR Newark | United Airlines | 3:34 p.m. | 5.0% | 5.0% | 63% |
| BOS Boston | JetBlue | 6:41 p.m. | 3.5% | 5.5% | 52% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 3:08 p.m. | 3.0% | 4.4% | 59% |
| BOS Boston | Delta Air Lines | 3:20 p.m. | 2.9% | 3.9% | 65% |
| IAD Washington | United Airlines | 7:46 p.m. | 3.3% | 2.8% | 76% |
| MIA Miami | American Airlines | 8:09 p.m. | 1.8% | 4.2% | 67% |
| DTW Detroit | Delta Air Lines | 6:39 p.m. | 2.3% | 3.1% | 71% |
Each airline's last scheduled departure of the day on a route, on days it flies the route at least twice; past 12 months. Riskiest first.
Tips for flying out of CHS
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At CHS the 5 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in July? Leave extra slack for anything that can't move: cruises, weddings, the last connection of the day.
- Choosing between airlines? Delta Air Lines has the better record here.
- Need to arrive tonight? Don't book the last flight out of CHS; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at CHS come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from CHS
Where you're going matters too. From CHS, the most reliable busy route was to Atlanta (ATL, 87% on time) and the least reliable to Boston (BOS, 67%). Flights into congested airports inherit their delays: an air traffic program at the destination holds planes on the ground here.
Least reliable first. Routes with at least 365 flights a year.
| To | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 491 | 65% | 3.0% | −2 min |
| BOS Boston | 1,150 | 67% | 3.1% | −5 min |
| DCA Washington | 1,748 | 68% | 4.9% | −5 min |
| DEN Denver | 663 | 69% | 0.6% | −1 min |
| JFK New York | 1,722 | 71% | 5.8% | −7 min |
| LGA New York | 2,313 | 71% | 6.4% | −7 min |
| ORD Chicago | 2,153 | 74% | 2.3% | −6 min |
| EWR Newark | 1,320 | 76% | 3.6% | −7 min |
| BNA Nashville | 989 | 76% | 0.6% | −3 min |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,144 | 77% | 2.0% | −9 min |
| DAL Dallas | 365 | 77% | 0.8% | −4 min |
| MDW Chicago | 384 | 78% | 0.5% | −7 min |
| DFW Dallas | 1,236 | 79% | 2.2% | −10 min |
| MIA Miami | 953 | 79% | 1.3% | −8 min |
| DTW Detroit | 855 | 80% | 1.6% | −9 min |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,229 | 80% | 1.6% | −6 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 2,665 | 82% | 1.7% | −11 min |
| IAD Washington | 1,034 | 82% | 1.6% | −9 min |
| IAH Houston | 689 | 85% | 0.6% | −13 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 3,344 | 87% | 1.7% | −12 min |
Flights into CHS
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Charleston, least reliable first. The weakest is from Fort Lauderdale (66% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 489 | 66% | 2.9% |
| DCA Washington | 1,748 | 66% | 3.6% |
| DAL Dallas | 365 | 67% | 0.8% |
| MIA Miami | 952 | 67% | 1.3% |
| LGA New York | 2,315 | 67% | 5.8% |
| JFK New York | 1,723 | 69% | 5.8% |
| DFW Dallas | 1,234 | 70% | 2.2% |
| BNA Nashville | 991 | 71% | 0.5% |
| ORD Chicago | 2,154 | 74% | 1.8% |
| MDW Chicago | 380 | 74% | 1.1% |
| BOS Boston | 1,149 | 74% | 2.7% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,144 | 75% | 2.4% |
| CLT Charlotte | 2,667 | 75% | 1.6% |
| DTW Detroit | 855 | 76% | 1.8% |
| EWR Newark | 1,321 | 76% | 3.1% |
| DEN Denver | 662 | 77% | 0.3% |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,230 | 78% | 1.8% |
| IAH Houston | 689 | 80% | 0.4% |
| ATL Atlanta | 3,345 | 81% | 1.6% |
| IAD Washington | 1,035 | 83% | 1.4% |
Questions about CHS delays
What is the best time to fly out of CHS?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 93% of CHS departures at that hour arrived on time, against 61% at 8 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at CHS?
July (69% on time). October is the best month (85%).
Which airline is most on time at CHS?
Delta Air Lines: 79% of its CHS departures arrived on time over the past year. JetBlue had the weakest record at 67%.
Why are flights delayed at CHS?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (45% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (28%).
How often are flights cancelled at CHS?
2.6% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 6.6%.
Hours are scheduled local departure times. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes late at the destination; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Method.