ATL → LAX Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · ATLNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:52 UTC

Atlanta airport profile →

Destination · LAXNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Los Angeles airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

67/ 100Good

Better than 53% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 16,302 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

77.0%

12,427 of 16,138

Cancellation rate

0.85%

138 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-4 min

Average 6.9 min

Severe delays

6.8%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

63 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

16,302

4 carriers

ATL → LAX arrives on time 77.0% of the time; the return trip, LAX → ATL, arrives on time 78.7% of the time.

ATL → LAX spends 28.4 minutes on the ground on a 1,947-mile trip: 17.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ATL and 10.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAX.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

Why ATL → LAX flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

ATL → LAX cancelled 138 of 16,302 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 118. The reason filed most often was the airline, 56.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 209 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Airline56.5%

Weather42.0%

Air traffic1.4%

Security0.0%

Of 138 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

The airline1 in 209

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

78 cancellations, 56.5% of the total.

Extreme weather1 in 281

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

58 cancellations, 42.0% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 8,151

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

2 cancellations, 1.4% of the total.

Security—

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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

138 coded cancellations were recorded on ATL → LAX; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

42 min late

against a median of 4 min early

Arrived an hour or more late6.8%

Typical delay when late63 min

Cancelled0.85%

Landed somewhere else0.16%

Percentiles over 16,302 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at LAX after arriving from ATL.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, ATL → LAX arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	41%	Likely to miss
45 min	22%	High risk
60 min	14%	Some risk
90 min	6.6%	Some risk
120 min	4.0%	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 0.85% of the time and diverts 0.16% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 16,138 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 42 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 16,302 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

ATL → LAX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 84.1% of the time, against 66.9% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 17.2 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (ATL).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 8.1 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.2 points.

On-time arrival rate for ATL to LAX by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

50–59
60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 7 AM and after 10 PM (972 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for ATL to LAX. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
7 AM–8 AM	82.1% on time208 flights	90.5% on time202 flights	89.5% on time201 flights	89.0% on time209 flights	84.5% on time212 flights	90.2% on time206 flights	84.8% on time206 flights
8 AM–9 AM	78.5% on time211 flights	82.2% on time157 flights	80.1% on time166 flights	86.9% on time216 flights	79.9% on time224 flights	84.7% on time198 flights	79.8% on time221 flights
9 AM–10 AM	108 flights, too few to score	110 flights, too few to score	105 flights, too few to score	106 flights, too few to score	100 flights, too few to score	117 flights, too few to score	100 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	78.2% on time199 flights	78.7% on time178 flights	87.6% on time170 flights	82.8% on time187 flights	80.0% on time199 flights	80.5% on time172 flights	77.3% on time181 flights
11 AM–12 PM	84.9% on time139 flights	90.4% on time167 flights	86.6% on time142 flights	85.5% on time138 flights	86.3% on time141 flights	84.7% on time145 flights	86.5% on time143 flights
12 PM–1 PM	85.5% on time132 flights	81.1% on time159 flights	88.6% on time167 flights	85.4% on time130 flights	78.9% on time130 flights	81.8% on time132 flights	80.6% on time134 flights
1 PM–2 PM	56 flights, too few to score	60 flights, too few to score	62 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score	57 flights, too few to score	42 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	79.1% on time135 flights	85.8% on time135 flights	86.5% on time157 flights	82.7% on time134 flights	83.5% on time134 flights	85.7% on time126 flights	82.1% on time141 flights
3 PM–4 PM	83.3% on time145 flights	81.0% on time137 flights	78.4% on time134 flights	82.4% on time137 flights	76.6% on time140 flights	70.2% on time142 flights	75.4% on time137 flights
4 PM–5 PM	69.1% on time236 flights	70.7% on time200 flights	78.1% on time196 flights	64.2% on time201 flights	61.5% on time233 flights	58.4% on time161 flights	57.7% on time223 flights
5 PM–6 PM	82.6% on time133 flights	76.5% on time150 flights	75.6% on time157 flights	75.7% on time148 flights	78.3% on time140 flights	74.6% on time139 flights	76.0% on time130 flights
6 PM–7 PM	71.4% on time147 flights	70.5% on time149 flights	76.7% on time151 flights	67.8% on time146 flights	72.7% on time143 flights	71.8% on time178 flights	70.7% on time151 flights
7 PM–8 PM	61.2% on time187 flights	64.1% on time168 flights	64.7% on time168 flights	57.3% on time200 flights	63.0% on time187 flights	63.3% on time168 flights	59.4% on time200 flights
8 PM–9 PM	103 flights, too few to score	87 flights, too few to score	82 flights, too few to score	102 flights, too few to score	106 flights, too few to score	107 flights, too few to score	102 flights, too few to score
9 PM–10 PM	107 flights, too few to score	59 flights, too few to score	65 flights, too few to score	56.3% on time128 flights	104 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score	68.4% on time123 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM84.1%

9 AM–12 PM83.5%

12–3 PM83.4%

3–6 PM72.5%

6–9 PM66.9%

9 PM–5 AM68.7%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why ATL → LAX runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

The airline53.4%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Late-arriving aircraft24.6%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control16.9%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather4.8%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.4%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for ATL → LAX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

The harder-hit end is the one the flight leaves from, where a cancellation keeps it from departing at all. Bad weather cancels 3.3 times the normal rate at ATL against 1.3 times at LAX. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: ATL 3.4% against 1.0%, LAX 1.0% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave ATL in bad weather arrived on time 66.5% of the time, against 80.2% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from ATL and LAX in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	ATL	LAX
Cancelled in bad weather	3.4%	1.0%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.0%	0.8%
Arrived on time, bad weather	66.5%	78.9%
Arrived on time, normal hours	80.2%	81.4%
Departures in bad weather	105,854	60,639

Of the carriers on this route, American Airlines (2.4% cancelled against 3.4% for the other carriers at ATL) cancelled the fewest departures from ATL in bad weather and Frontier Airlines (5.0% cancelled against 3.8% for the other carriers at ATL) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at ATL

All departures from ATL

Cancellation rates in bad weather at ATL for the airlines that fly ATL to LAX, against the other carriers at ATL in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
American Airlines	2,658	2.4%below the others	3.4%
Delta Air Lines	73,919	3.5%about level	3.6%
Spirit Airlines	2,965	3.9%above the others	3.2%
Frontier Airlines	4,928	5.0%above the others	3.8%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from ATL and LAX, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from ATL on every route.

Weather source and limits. In full: ATL (airlines), LAX, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
Delta Air Lines	12,195	77.8%	0.67%	-4 min	6.1%
Spirit Airlines	1,888	79.6%	1.22%	-8 min	6.3%
American Airlines	1,240	76.9%	0.48%	-8 min	8.9%
Frontier Airlines	908	62.8%	2.75%	4 min	13.9%

Delta Air Lines flew 75.1% of the 16,231 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.75% of its flights here against 0.48% for American Airlines.

Spirit Airlines arrived on time 16.8 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.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
DL501 Delta Air Lines	10:25 AM	1,124	84.3%
DL898 Delta Air Lines	8:55 AM	1,099	82.1%
DL753 Delta Air Lines	2:00 PM	1,060	84.0%
DL500 Delta Air Lines	6:30 PM	1,051	71.5%
DL301 Delta Air Lines	4:50 PM	1,037	67.0%
DL895 Delta Air Lines	12:40 PM	1,022	83.5%
DL996 Delta Air Lines	7:00 AM	866	87.5%
DL331 Delta Air Lines	9:30 PM	775	71.1%

DL996 (7:00 AM) arrived on time 87.5% of the time, 20.5 points more often than DL301 (4:50 PM) at 67.0%.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon76.3%

Tue79.4%

Wed80.9%

Thu76.3%

Fri75.4%

Sat77.0%

Sun74.0%

Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.9 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 18.2 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.1% against 76.1% in the 12 months before — improving by 2.0 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 16,302 ATL → LAX 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

ATL airport LAX airport Return direction LAX → ATL

ATL→LAX

Right now

Route reliability

Why ATL → LAX flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why ATL → LAX runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

This route’s airlines in bad weather at ATL

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology