DSM to CLT flight delays
Des Moines, IA (DSM) Charlotte, NC (CLT) · 815 miles
809 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
83.31%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
2.84%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
120 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
21 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth pricing here: 2.84% of scheduled flights never operated. A late flight still gets you there. A cancelled one leaves you rebooking, and on a route with few daily departures that can mean losing a day.
The shape of the lateness matters here. Flights on this route are not late often, but when they are late they are late by about 120 minutes — long enough to lose a connection or an evening. The on-time percentage looks reassuring and understates the consequence of being on the wrong flight.
The season swings this route hard. In May it ran 19.3 points more punctual than in June — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The two directions do not behave alike. CLT to DSM arrives on time 9.8 points less often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, PSA Airlines arrived on time most often on DSM to CLT. American Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in May and worst in June.
Every airline on DSM to CLT
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 621 | 83.03% | 2.09% | 125 min | C |
| PSA Airlines | 188 | 84.27% | 5.32% | 101 min | C |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
CLT to DSM Charlotte back to Des Moines 73.47% on time DOther routes from Des Moines
Common questions
Are flights from Des Moines to Charlotte usually delayed?
83.31% of flights on the DSM to CLT route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Des Moines to Charlotte?
PSA Airlines, at 84.27% on time across 188 flights. The least punctual on the route was American Airlines at 83.03%.
How often are DSM to CLT flights cancelled?
2.84% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 28 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
What is the best month to fly Des Moines to Charlotte?
May, when 91.7% of flights arrived on time. The worst was June at 72.4%.
When DSM to CLT flights are late, how late are they?
About 120 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on DSM to CLT during January 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →