Route profile
ATL→HOU
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Atlanta to Houston, 696 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 70% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,620 flights. How this is calculated
ATL → HOU arrives on time 80.7% of the time; the return trip, HOU → ATL, arrives on time 81.7% of the time.
ATL → HOU spends 20.4 minutes on the ground on a 696-mile trip: 14.7 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ATL and 5.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at HOU.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Every airline on this route performs about the same, a narrower carrier gap than 91% of 2,692 comparable routes.
Delta Air Lines (81.6% on time) and Southwest Airlines (79.9%) are close together here.
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 2,692 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where ATL to HOU differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ATL to HOU is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 PM: 80.2% arrive on time, 12.8 points ahead of the 67.4% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.8 points.
ATL to HOU struggles most at 10 PM: 61.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 6.5 points behind the 67.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.7 points.
ATL to HOU holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 81.3% on time to their 76.8%, a 4.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 4.1 points.
April is kinder to ATL to HOU than to routes of similar length: 86.2% on time against 79.4%, 6.8 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.3 points.
Southwest Airlines does better on ATL to HOU than on its routes of similar length: 79.9% on time here, 77.4% there, 2.5 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 2.5 points.
ATL to HOU against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 80.2% | routes of similar length | 67.4% | +12.8 pts | 1,067 here, 67,615 there |
| Hour: 10 PM departures | 61.0% | routes of similar length | 67.5% | −6.5 pts | 254 here, 43,356 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 81.3% | routes of similar length | 76.8% | +4.5 pts | 1,400 here, 322,769 there |
| Month: April | 86.2% | routes of similar length | 79.4% | +6.8 pts | 774 here, 176,870 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 79.9% | routes of similar length | 77.4% | +2.5 pts | 4,947 here, 569,910 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 696 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 → HOU flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
ATL → HOU cancelled 98 of 9,620 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 98. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 48.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 205 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 98 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
47 cancellations, 48.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
45 cancellations, 45.9% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
6 cancellations, 6.1% 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.
98 coded cancellations were recorded on ATL → HOU; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
35 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 9,620 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at HOU after arriving from ATL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 35% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.3% | 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 1.02% of the time and diverts 0.28% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,495 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 35 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,620 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ATL → HOU flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.9% of the time, against 65.9% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 25.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 94.1% on time from 875 flights
- 7 AM: 93.9% on time from 214 flights
- 8 AM: 88.3% on time from 1,331 flights
- 9 AM: 83.1% on time from 462 flights
- 10 AM: 88.8% on time from 143 flights
- 11 AM: 85.7% on time from 865 flights
- 12 PM: 82.7% on time from 448 flights
- 1 PM: 80.2% on time from 444 flights
- 2 PM: 81.6% on time from 850 flights
- 3 PM: 77.2% on time from 338 flights
- 4 PM: 75.1% on time from 714 flights
- 5 PM: 70.8% on time from 430 flights
- 6 PM: 69.5% on time from 424 flights
- 7 PM: 62.8% on time from 430 flights
- 8 PM: 65.3% on time from 309 flights
- 9 PM: 80.2% on time from 1,083 flights
- 10 PM: 61.0% on time from 260 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why ATL → HOU 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 → HOU. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 4,994 | 79.9% | 0.70% | -5 min | 5.7% |
| Delta Air Lines | 4,626 | 81.6% | 1.36% | -7 min | 6.1% |
Southwest Airlines flew 51.9% of the 9,620 flights listed.
Carriers on this route performed within a couple of percentage points of each other.
Other ways to fly Atlanta to Houston
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL→IAH Atlanta to Houston | 14,365 | 75.4% | 1.66% | -3 min | 57 |
| ATL→HOU this route Atlanta to Houston | 9,620 | 80.7% | 1.02% | -6 min | 73 |
ATL → HOU is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 80.7% on time, against 75.4% for ATL → IAH.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL1509 (8:10 AM) arrived on time 88.1% of the time, 11.0 points more often than DL2051 (9:15 PM) at 77.1%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.2 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 81.4%
- Feb: 87.4%
- Mar: 83.3%
- Apr: 86.2%
- May: 72.0%
- Jun: 75.9%
- Jul: 68.4%
- Aug: 79.9%
- Sep: 86.0%
- Oct: 86.2%
- Nov: 85.5%
- Dec: 82.1%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 19.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 69.0% from 288 flights
- August 2023: 72.3% from 260 flights
- September 2023: 83.1% from 297 flights
- October 2023: 88.2% from 298 flights
- November 2023: 88.1% from 302 flights
- December 2023: 86.6% from 307 flights
- January 2024: 79.0% from 245 flights
- February 2024: 93.6% from 219 flights
- March 2024: 85.5% from 276 flights
- April 2024: 85.0% from 288 flights
- May 2024: 66.6% from 310 flights
- June 2024: 83.2% from 274 flights
- July 2024: 61.4% from 277 flights
- August 2024: 89.2% from 271 flights
- September 2024: 87.3% from 260 flights
- October 2024: 89.2% from 277 flights
- November 2024: 90.0% from 259 flights
- December 2024: 80.8% from 272 flights
- January 2025: 78.3% from 228 flights
- February 2025: 79.5% from 210 flights
- March 2025: 84.8% from 244 flights
- April 2025: 87.4% from 256 flights
- May 2025: 74.8% from 278 flights
- June 2025: 66.7% from 270 flights
- July 2025: 72.3% from 275 flights
- August 2025: 77.8% from 262 flights
- September 2025: 88.0% from 250 flights
- October 2025: 80.6% from 256 flights
- November 2025: 77.7% from 253 flights
- December 2025: 78.0% from 254 flights
- January 2026: 87.3% from 218 flights
- February 2026: 88.9% from 199 flights
- March 2026: 79.3% from 239 flights
- April 2026: 86.3% from 235 flights
- May 2026: 75.6% from 242 flights
- June 2026: 77.8% from 232 flights
- July 2026: 70.9% from 239 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.5% against 81.7% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,620 ATL → HOU 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