ATL → RDU Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · ATLNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:52 UTC

Atlanta airport profile →

Destination · RDUNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:51 UTC

Raleigh–Durham airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

71/ 100Good

Better than 65% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 14,366 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

80.2%

11,398 of 14,210

Cancellation rate

0.95%

136 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-5 min

Average 6.7 min

Severe delays

6.3%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

60 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

14,366

3 carriers

ATL → RDU arrives on time 80.2% of the time; the return trip, RDU → ATL, arrives on time 85.0% of the time, a 4.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

ATL → RDU spends 23.0 minutes on the ground on a 356-mile trip: 16.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ATL and 6.6 minutes from touchdown to gate at RDU.

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

What stands out

This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 92% of 5,368 comparable routes.

79.9% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 80.4% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.

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 5,368 in the comparison.

Why ATL → RDU flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

ATL → RDU cancelled 136 of 14,366 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 106. The reason filed most often was the airline, 57.4% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 184 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Airline57.4%

Weather42.6%

Air traffic0.0%

Security0.0%

Of 136 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

The airline1 in 184

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

78 cancellations, 57.4% of the total.

Extreme weather1 in 248

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

58 cancellations, 42.6% of the total.

The air traffic system—

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

0 cancellations, 0.0% 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.

136 coded cancellations were recorded on ATL → RDU; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

39 min late

against a median of 5 min early

Arrived an hour or more late6.3%

Typical delay when late60 min

Cancelled0.95%

Landed somewhere else0.14%

Percentiles over 14,366 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at RDU after arriving from ATL.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, ATL → RDU arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	37%	Likely to miss
45 min	19%	High risk
60 min	12%	Some risk
90 min	6.2%	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 0.95% of the time and diverts 0.14% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 14,210 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 39 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 14,366 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

ATL → RDU flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.2% of the time, against 69.0% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 21.2 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 7.8 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 3.0 points.

On-time arrival rate for ATL to RDU 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
10 PM–11 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 11 PM (468 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 RDU. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
7 AM–8 AM	89.6% on time166 flights	117 flights, too few to score	89.9% on time131 flights	93.9% on time148 flights	88.0% on time170 flights	51 flights, too few to score	90.8% on time132 flights
8 AM–9 AM	87.8% on time140 flights	89.6% on time144 flights	93.2% on time146 flights	95.0% on time140 flights	88.5% on time140 flights	89.1% on time141 flights	90.2% on time156 flights
9 AM–10 AM	56 flights, too few to score	43 flights, too few to score	56 flights, too few to score	60 flights, too few to score	56 flights, too few to score	78 flights, too few to score	48 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	87.4% on time216 flights	91.5% on time213 flights	87.6% on time201 flights	87.5% on time226 flights	89.6% on time226 flights	88.1% on time179 flights	80.9% on time219 flights
11 AM–12 PM	98 flights, too few to score	114 flights, too few to score	103 flights, too few to score	89 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score	89.5% on time124 flights	101 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	84.8% on time128 flights	86.3% on time125 flights	94.4% on time124 flights	84.3% on time127 flights	86.7% on time129 flights	102 flights, too few to score	87.0% on time126 flights
1 PM–2 PM	54 flights, too few to score	63 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score	49 flights, too few to score	53 flights, too few to score	74 flights, too few to score	68 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	80.0% on time168 flights	83.6% on time140 flights	87.4% on time135 flights	86.9% on time161 flights	77.8% on time162 flights	77.3% on time177 flights	75.8% on time157 flights
3 PM–4 PM	74.6% on time123 flights	102 flights, too few to score	107 flights, too few to score	80.8% on time120 flights	118 flights, too few to score	77 flights, too few to score	103 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	69.6% on time139 flights	78.2% on time142 flights	76.5% on time137 flights	80.5% on time160 flights	70.3% on time146 flights	85 flights, too few to score	71.1% on time155 flights
5 PM–6 PM	76.7% on time176 flights	80.7% on time161 flights	83.9% on time149 flights	77.6% on time165 flights	74.5% on time162 flights	72.9% on time135 flights	70.5% on time149 flights
6 PM–7 PM	19 flights, too few to score	52 flights, too few to score	45 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	22 flights, too few to score	63 flights, too few to score	40 flights, too few to score
7 PM–8 PM	74.1% on time158 flights	76.0% on time146 flights	82.1% on time152 flights	76.5% on time167 flights	71.6% on time158 flights	73.1% on time146 flights	73.4% on time158 flights
8 PM–9 PM	76 flights, too few to score	69 flights, too few to score	69 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score	72 flights, too few to score	66 flights, too few to score	67 flights, too few to score
9 PM–10 PM	74.7% on time177 flights	93 flights, too few to score	91 flights, too few to score	70.8% on time174 flights	68.5% on time171 flights	61 flights, too few to score	62.0% on time169 flights
10 PM–11 PM	64.7% on time206 flights	70.3% on time185 flights	73.8% on time191 flights	72.0% on time205 flights	64.3% on time217 flights	76.3% on time178 flights	58.2% on time228 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM90.2%

9 AM–12 PM87.9%

12–3 PM83.8%

3–6 PM76.7%

6–9 PM74.4%

9 PM–5 AM69.0%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why ATL → RDU runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

The airline42.9%

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

Late-arriving aircraft38.5%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control12.7%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather5.8%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security<0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

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

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of ATL to RDU: 3.3 times the normal rate at ATL and 2.6 times at RDU. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: ATL 3.4% against 1.0%, RDU 4.1% against 1.6%. 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 RDU in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	ATL	RDU
Cancelled in bad weather	3.4%	4.1%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.0%	1.6%
Arrived on time, bad weather	66.5%	74.9%
Arrived on time, normal hours	80.2%	79.9%
Departures in bad weather	105,854	16,672

Of the carriers on this route, Southwest Airlines (2.1% cancelled against 3.1% 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 RDU, against the other carriers at ATL in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
Southwest Airlines	8,953	2.1%below the others	3.1%
Delta Air Lines	73,919	3.5%about level	3.6%
Frontier Airlines	4,928	5.0%above the others	3.8%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from ATL and RDU, 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), RDU, 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	11,062	82.1%	0.85%	-5 min	5.4%
Southwest Airlines	1,767	80.9%	0.34%	-6 min	4.9%
Frontier Airlines	1,524	65.2%	2.30%	0 min	14.5%

Delta Air Lines flew 77.1% of the 14,353 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.30% of its flights here against 0.34% for Southwest Airlines.

Delta Air Lines arrived on time 16.9 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
DL1518 Delta Air Lines	7:56 PM	954	76.4%
DL1097 Delta Air Lines	5:40 PM	843	75.6%
DL2600 Delta Air Lines	3:37 PM	831	76.8%
DL2052 Delta Air Lines	10:10 AM	750	84.3%
F91670 Frontier Airlines	10:44 PM	654	62.2%
DL2634 Delta Air Lines	7:10 AM	610	92.5%

DL2634 (7:10 AM) arrived on time 92.5% of the time, 30.3 points more often than F91670 (10:44 PM) at 62.2%.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon78.7%

Tue83.2%

Wed84.6%

Thu81.7%

Fri77.7%

Sat81.0%

Sun75.3%

Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.3 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 21.9 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 79.9% against 80.4% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 14,366 ATL → RDU 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 RDU airport Return direction RDU → ATL

ATL→RDU

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why ATL → RDU 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 → RDU 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