Route profile
ATL→BUF
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Atlanta to Buffalo, 712 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 42% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,327 flights. How this is calculated
ATL → BUF arrives on time 78.0% of the time; the return trip, BUF → ATL, arrives on time 78.7% of the time.
ATL → BUF spends 23.8 minutes on the ground on a 712-mile trip: 16.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ATL and 7.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at BUF.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability here swings unusually widely by season, a wider month-to-month spread than 95% of 3,357 comparable routes.
90.0% on time in a typical November, against 63.7% in July.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where ATL to BUF differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ATL to BUF struggles most at 11 AM: 72.2% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 9.4 points behind the 81.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 8.8 points.
ATL to BUF is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 PM: 75.7% arrive on time, 8.5 points ahead of the 67.2% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.2 points.
ATL to BUF holds up on Wednesdays better than routes of similar length do: 84.3% on time to their 80.4%, a 3.9 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 3.5 points.
November is kinder to ATL to BUF than to routes of similar length: 90.0% on time against 83.3%, 6.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.6 points.
In July, ATL to BUF runs 5 points below routes of similar length, 63.7% on time to 68.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 6 points.
ATL to BUF against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 72.2% | routes of similar length | 81.6% | −9.4 pts | 194 here, 133,734 there |
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 75.7% | routes of similar length | 67.2% | +8.5 pts | 929 here, 63,282 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 84.3% | routes of similar length | 80.4% | +3.9 pts | 568 here, 298,650 there |
| Month: November | 90.0% | routes of similar length | 83.3% | +6.7 pts | 311 here, 171,040 there |
| Month: July | 63.7% | routes of similar length | 68.7% | −5.0 pts | 521 here, 240,388 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 712 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why ATL → BUF flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
ATL → BUF cancelled 74 of 4,327 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 58. The reason filed most often was the airline, 67.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 87 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 74 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
50 cancellations, 67.6% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
23 cancellations, 31.1% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
1 cancellation, 1.4% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
74 coded cancellations were recorded on ATL → BUF; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
46 min late
against a median of 3 min early
Percentiles over 4,327 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BUF after arriving from ATL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 21% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.0% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.6% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.71% of the time and diverts 0.02% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,252 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 46 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,327 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ATL → BUF flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 84.4% of the time, against 73.4% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 11.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 85.0% on time from 135 flights
- 9 AM: 86.4% on time from 1,085 flights
- 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 72.2% on time from 201 flights
- 12 PM: 82.6% on time from 181 flights
- 1 PM: 77.2% on time from 270 flights
- 2 PM: 75.8% on time from 194 flights
- 3 PM: 76.6% on time from 501 flights
- 4 PM: 70.4% on time from 460 flights
- 5 PM to 8 PM: too few flights to score
- 9 PM: 75.7% on time from 942 flights
- 10 PM: 74.1% on time from 160 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why ATL → BUF runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for ATL → BUF. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 3,711 | 79.6% | 1.40% | -4 min | 6.2% |
| Frontier Airlines | 615 | 68.1% | 3.58% | 0 min | 13.3% |
Delta Air Lines flew 85.8% of the 4,326 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 3.58% of its flights here against 1.40% for Delta Air Lines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 11.5 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL1384 (9:00 AM) arrived on time 87.4% of the time, 14.4 points more often than DL2050 (4:33 PM) at 73.0%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 11.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 76.7%
- Feb: 78.3%
- Mar: 79.2%
- Apr: 82.4%
- May: 75.6%
- Jun: 73.3%
- Jul: 63.7%
- Aug: 74.9%
- Sep: 86.3%
- Oct: 85.4%
- Nov: 90.0%
- Dec: 76.1%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 26.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 66.7% from 122 flights
- August 2023: 66.4% from 136 flights
- September 2023: 82.6% from 139 flights
- October 2023: 88.5% from 139 flights
- November 2023: too few flights to score (94)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (88)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (83)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (80)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (91)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (102)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (110)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (115)
- July 2024: 66.7% from 134 flights
- August 2024: 77.0% from 139 flights
- September 2024: 84.8% from 134 flights
- October 2024: 85.3% from 136 flights
- November 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (101)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (91)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (105)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- June 2025: 60.5% from 125 flights
- July 2025: 70.5% from 134 flights
- August 2025: 81.2% from 136 flights
- September 2025: 91.9% from 124 flights
- October 2025: 82.4% from 142 flights
- November 2025: too few flights to score (108)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (98)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (97)
- March 2026: 79.4% from 128 flights
- April 2026: 79.2% from 144 flights
- May 2026: 77.6% from 149 flights
- June 2026: 81.2% from 141 flights
- July 2026: 52.4% from 147 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.2% against 77.5% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,327 ATL → BUF flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed