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Rankings / Routes / Washington, DC to Charlotte

2025 flights

Washington, DC to Charlotte

Between Washington, DC and Charlotte, 1.7 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 18 thousand flights of about 339 miles and 58 minutes in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 82 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 58 kg on Frontier Airlines to 108 kg on Republic Airways.

  • 82 kgCO2 per passenger, average
  • 339 milesabout 58 minutes in the air
  • 1.7 millionpassengers in 2025
  • 77%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

CO2 per passenger by airline, Washington, DC to CharlotteBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Washington, DC and Charlotte in 2025.0255075100Frontier Airlines58 kgSouthwest Airlines70 kgAmerican Airlines80 kgPSA Airlines91 kgMesa Airlines94 kgRepublic Airways108 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, Washington, DC to CharlotteBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Washington, DC and Charlotte in 2025.050100Frontier Airlines58 kgSouthwest Airlines70 kgAmerican Airlines80 kgPSA Airlines91 kgMesa Airlines94 kgRepublic Airways108 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.
Washington, DC to Charlotte by airline, 2025
AirlineShare of passengersFlights (thousands)Main aircraftSeats per flightSeats filledkg CO2 per passenger
American Airlines61%9.0Airbus A319, Boeing 737-80015476%80
PSA Airlines14%3.97585%91
Southwest Airlines13%1.9Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-80015479%70
Mesa Airlines5%1.5Embraer 1757478%94
Republic Airways2%0.7Embraer 1757578%108
Frontier Airlines2%0.2Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo20770%58

What explains the differences

It's number 88 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 92 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.24 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 339 miles in this set comes out at about 70 kg, so this one is 17% above it.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: BWI to CLT (45%), DCA to CLT (35%), IAD to CLT (20%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 86% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 864 gallons per flight and 145 passengers on each, and Republic Airways 643 gallons and 58 passengers. The gap comes from how many passengers share each flight, not from fuel burned per flight. Frontier Airlines flew 70% full here against 78% for Republic Airways, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Embraer 175.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 44 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 87% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.2 million passengers on 22 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 1.7 million, down 23%, on 18 thousand flights, down 19%. The average flight had 123 seats then and 126 now, and 83% of them were filled against 77%.

CO2 per passenger was 80 kg in 2019 and 82 kg in 2025, up 1.9%. Fuel burned per flight was down 3.3% (845 gallons to 817) and passengers per flight were down 5.1% (103 to 97). The distance flown was about the same (339 miles then, 339 now).

American Airlines led in both years, with 66% of passengers in 2019 and 61% in 2025. Southwest Airlines gained the most share, 10% to 13%. American Airlines lost the most, 66% to 61%. Frontier Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 2%. Spirit Airlines no longer reaches 1% of passengers, having had 2% in 2019.

Airline by airline, Southwest Airlines went from 77 kg to 70 kg per passenger (147 seats per flight to 154, main aircraft Boeing 737-700 in both years); American Airlines went from 74 kg to 80 kg per passenger (151 seats per flight to 154, main aircraft Airbus A320-200 then and Airbus A319 now).

Washington, DC to Charlotte, 2019 and 2025
Measure20192025
Passengers (thousands)2,2431,733
Flights (thousands)21.917.8
Seats filled83%77%
Gallons of fuel per flight845817
kg CO2 per passenger8082
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Washington, DC to CharlotteBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Washington, DC to Charlotte for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.0255075100American Airlines 201974 kgAmerican Airlines 202580 kgPSA Airlines 201999 kgPSA Airlines 202591 kgSouthwest Airlines 201977 kgSouthwest Airlines 202570 kgMesa Airlines 2019108 kgMesa Airlines 202594 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Washington, DC to CharlotteBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Washington, DC to Charlotte for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.050100American Airlines 201974 kgAmerican Airlines 202580 kgPSA Airlines 201999 kgPSA Airlines 202591 kgSouthwest Airlines 201977 kgSouthwest Airlines 202570 kgMesa Airlines 2019108 kgMesa Airlines 202594 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

Washington, DC to Charlotte and back: time in the air

The time in the air is almost the same each way: 60 minutes on average from Washington, DC to Charlotte and 56 minutes back. A difference of 4 minutes is within what routing and congestion alone produce.

Time in the air by direction, 2025
DirectionAverage minutes in the airFlights
Washington, DC to Charlotte60.28,894
Charlotte to Washington, DC56.08,929

Fly or drive

Driving is about 397 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 118 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 44% more than the 82 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 2 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (59 kg each, and 29 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 156 kg per vehicle.

A direct Amtrak train serves both cities. Using the EPA figure for other Amtrak routes (0.149 kg per passenger-mile) and a rail distance about equal to the road distance, a train passenger would account for roughly 59 kg, 28% less than the flight.

CO2 per person by way of travel, Washington, DC to CharlotteBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Washington, DC and Charlotte.0255075100Flight, average82 kgCar, driver alone118 kgCar, 2 people59 kgCar, 4 people29 kgTrain59 kg
CO2 per person by way of travel, Washington, DC to CharlotteBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Washington, DC and Charlotte.050100Flight, average82 kgCar, driver alone118 kgCar, 2 people59 kgCar, 4 people29 kgTrain59 kg
CO2 per person, Washington, DC to Charlotte. Driving figures divide one car's emissions between the people in it. See flying vs driving for other trip lengths.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Washington, DC to Boston100 kg CO2 per passenger over 383 milesAtlanta to Washington, DC104 kg CO2 per passenger over 554 milesMiami to Washington, DC144 kg CO2 per passenger over 921 milesChicago to Washington, DC121 kg CO2 per passenger over 609 milesNew York to Raleigh-Durham102 kg CO2 per passenger over 427 milesDallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio60 kg CO2 per passenger over 247 milesLos Angeles to Sacramento92 kg CO2 per passenger over 379 milesChicago to Minneapolis82 kg CO2 per passenger over 338 miles

Airports on this route: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.