Flight profile · Delta Air Lines
DL850
Atlanta (ATL) to Washington (DCA) · scheduled 3:40 PM – 5:20 PM
How DL850 performs
872 operations, 2023-09-05 to 2026-06-30.
DL850 arrived on time 65.8% of the time, against 74.2% for all ATL → DCA flights — this specific departure is 8.4 percentage points worse than the route as a whole. Against Delta Air Lines’s own flights on this route it is 6.1 points worse.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · 872 operations between 2023-09-05 to 2026-06-30
Against the rest of the route
| On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe | Flights | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL850 | 65.8% | 0.80% | 2 min | 9.6% | 872 |
| Delta Air Lines on ATL → DCA | 71.9% | 1.72% | 0 min | 8.4% | 11,479 |
| All ATL → DCA flights | 74.2% | 2.20% | -3 min | 8.5% | 20,601 |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · 2023-09-05 to 2026-06-30
By day of week
Does DL850 run worse on particular days?
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Wednesday the least, a gap of 17.4 percentage points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · 2023-09-05 to 2026-06-30 · Days with fewer than 120 operations are not scored.
Other routes DL850 has flown
A flight number is a slot in a schedule, and carriers reassign it. These are the other city pairs this number served in the analysis period.
| Route | Operated | Flights | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCA→ATL Washington to Atlanta | 2023-09-05 – 2026-06-30 | 663 | 70.9% |
| SLC→JAC Salt Lake City to Jackson | 2025-12-20 – 2026-01-03 | 11 | — |
| SEA→ORD Seattle to Chicago | 2024-05-07 – 2024-06-06 | 26 | — |
| MSP→DEN Minneapolis to Denver | 2024-01-15 – 2024-03-08 | 31 | — |
| ATL→JAC Atlanta to Jackson | 2023-07-01 – 2023-09-04 | 66 | — |
Because the same number has served different journeys, the statistics above describe only the route DL850 currently operates. Blending them would produce an average of two different flights.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 872 records of DL850 operating ATL → DCA, published by the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule. Cancelled and diverted flights are excluded from the on-time rate and reported separately. Flight numbers are resolved as carrier plus number plus route, because the same number serves different routes over time.