LAX to RDU flight delays
Los Angeles, CA (LAX) Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU) · 2,239 miles
801 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
78.56%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.75%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
93 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
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. Delta Air Lines arrived on time 6 points more often than American Airlines over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
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 93 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 two directions do not behave alike. RDU to LAX arrives on time 5.8 points more 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.
The Los Angeles to Raleigh/Durham route sits close to the middle of the record — neither notably punctual nor notably late.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Delta Air Lines arrived on time most often on LAX to RDU. American Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in August and worst in March.
Every airline on LAX to RDU
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 | 419 | 75.72% | 0.72% | 123 min | C |
| Delta Air Lines | 382 | 81.7% | 0.79% | 49 min | B |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
Other routes from Los Angeles
Common questions
Are flights from Los Angeles to Raleigh/Durham usually delayed?
78.56% of flights on the LAX to RDU route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Los Angeles to Raleigh/Durham?
Delta Air Lines, at 81.7% on time across 382 flights. The least punctual on the route was American Airlines at 75.72%.
How often are LAX to RDU flights cancelled?
0.75% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 8 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Los Angeles to Raleigh/Durham?
August, when 88.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was March at 70.5%.
When LAX to RDU flights are late, how late are they?
About 93 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 LAX to RDU 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 →