See what summer travel is doing to some of the state's biggest airports.
NORTH CAROLINA -- The summer is a peak time for travel, and airports are packed with folks heading off for vacation.
The Dawson family is returning to RDU from a week long trip to Kansas City. The flight home was smooth, but leaving was a little more tricky.
"We were delayed on the way out for about an hour and a half," said Elizabeth Dawson.
Like the Dawsons, many airline passengers have the same experience - delayed flights and long waits.
"It was about an hour delay. We were just sitting out there waiting,” said Renee Hains, who traveled from JFK to RDU. “It was a backup of flights. I guess a lot of flights were taking off, but it's JFK, so there's always an hour delay."
Airports are busy.
At RDU, officials said more people are flying, and that means fewer empty seats on the plane.
While airport headaches from connection problems are on the rise across the country, that's not really an issue at RDU.
"Ninety-seven percent of our travelers start or end their trip at RDU," said Colleen Fischvogt, with RDU.
The same is true for PTI in Highpoint, which isn't really a connecting airport either.
However, Charlotte/Douglas is a main hub for US Airways.
Some experts say the problem with tracking how severe delays are, is that statistics show how late airplanes are, not passengers. Consequently, it's hard to figure out the average wait for arriving and departing.
For the month of May, both RDU and PTI had similar flight statistics.
At both airports, an average of 18 percent of flights departed late, the average delay on all flights was eight minutes, and fewer than two percent of flights were cancelled.
At Charlotte/Douglas, 27 percent of flights were late, the average delay on all flights was 12 minutes, and fewer than one percent of flights were cancelled.
Airport officials said the problem comes when an itinerary change is needed.
"With more people traveling, there are some problems that may arise as you try to rebook your flight," said Fischvogt.
For families like the Dawsons, many people have come to expect a delay. They say it's part of the price of convenience.
"You never want to, but it's easy enough to call people these days and keep in touch," said Dawson.
Experts point to bad weather, an overtaxed air control system, and crowded flights as some of the reasons for flight delays.