Route profile
CMH→ATL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Columbus to Atlanta, 447 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 85% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,792 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
CMH → ATL arrives on time 86.1% of the time; the return trip, ATL → CMH, arrives on time 81.3% of the time, a 4.9-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
CMH → ATL spends 22.9 minutes on the ground on a 447-mile trip: 14.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at CMH and 8.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at ATL.
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 100% of 5,368 comparable routes.
85.3% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 85.3% 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.
What sets this route apart
Where CMH to ATL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
CMH to ATL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 3 PM: 86.3% arrive on time, 12.8 points ahead of the 73.5% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 13.6 points.
CMH to ATL holds up on Thursdays better than routes of similar length do: 86.9% on time to their 77.1%, a 9.8 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 10.1 points.
June is kinder to CMH to ATL than to routes of similar length: 86.0% on time against 73.3%, 12.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 13.3 points.
Delta Air Lines does better on CMH to ATL than on its routes of similar length: 87.6% on time here, 81.4% there, 6.2 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 6.2 points.
CMH to ATL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 86.3% | routes of similar length | 73.5% | +12.8 pts | 480 here, 99,391 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 86.9% | routes of similar length | 77.1% | +9.8 pts | 1,478 here, 235,882 there |
| Month: June | 86.0% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | +12.7 pts | 835 here, 128,571 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 87.6% | routes of similar length | 81.4% | +6.2 pts | 7,603 here, 259,404 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 447 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 CMH → ATL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
CMH → ATL cancelled 97 of 9,792 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 101. The reason filed most often was the airline, 61.9% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 163 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 97 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.
60 cancellations, 61.9% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
36 cancellations, 37.1% 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, 1.0% 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.
97 coded cancellations were recorded on CMH → ATL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
26 min late
against a median of 10 min early
Percentiles over 9,792 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at ATL after arriving from CMH.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 25% | High risk |
| 45 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 8.9% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.9% | Low 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 0.99% of the time and diverts 0.20% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,675 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 26 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,792 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
CMH → ATL flights departing 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 91.5% of the time, against 76.4% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 15.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.9% on time from 1,287 flights
- 7 AM: 90.5% on time from 1,036 flights
- 8 AM: 87.8% on time from 990 flights
- 9 AM: 93.3% on time from 321 flights
- 10 AM: 93.2% on time from 567 flights
- 11 AM: 87.5% on time from 396 flights
- 12 PM: 85.0% on time from 887 flights
- 1 PM: 86.9% on time from 504 flights
- 2 PM: 80.7% on time from 491 flights
- 3 PM: 86.3% on time from 486 flights
- 4 PM: 83.8% on time from 598 flights
- 5 PM: 79.5% on time from 411 flights
- 6 PM: 77.5% on time from 975 flights
- 7 PM: 77.0% on time from 500 flights
- 8 PM: 71.1% on time from 237 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why CMH → ATL runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
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 CMH → ATL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on CMH → ATL, at 39.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 9 AM–12 PM departures arrived on time 91.5% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 76.4%.
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 | 7,701 | 87.6% | 1.03% | -11 min | 4.7% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,844 | 82.8% | 0.60% | -6 min | 4.8% |
Delta Air Lines flew 80.7% of the 9,545 flights listed.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 4.8 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL2469 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 93.7% of the time, 6.1 points more often than DL1522 (12:58 PM) at 87.6%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.9%
- Feb: 86.2%
- Mar: 86.6%
- Apr: 89.9%
- May: 82.6%
- Jun: 86.0%
- Jul: 78.6%
- Aug: 87.0%
- Sep: 91.2%
- Oct: 92.0%
- Nov: 91.1%
- Dec: 84.9%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 13.4 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 81.7% from 305 flights
- August 2023: 84.0% from 299 flights
- September 2023: 91.9% from 260 flights
- October 2023: 94.3% from 263 flights
- November 2023: 94.7% from 264 flights
- December 2023: 93.1% from 263 flights
- January 2024: 81.4% from 222 flights
- February 2024: 90.5% from 210 flights
- March 2024: 87.7% from 237 flights
- April 2024: 91.7% from 253 flights
- May 2024: 82.3% from 273 flights
- June 2024: 90.7% from 270 flights
- July 2024: 76.3% from 278 flights
- August 2024: 89.9% from 279 flights
- September 2024: 88.1% from 268 flights
- October 2024: 93.9% from 281 flights
- November 2024: 90.8% from 250 flights
- December 2024: 82.8% from 256 flights
- January 2025: 76.5% from 262 flights
- February 2025: 82.5% from 228 flights
- March 2025: 91.3% from 252 flights
- April 2025: 86.0% from 266 flights
- May 2025: 78.5% from 290 flights
- June 2025: 82.2% from 309 flights
- July 2025: 81.4% from 299 flights
- August 2025: 87.2% from 296 flights
- September 2025: 93.5% from 277 flights
- October 2025: 88.0% from 294 flights
- November 2025: 87.6% from 254 flights
- December 2025: 78.4% from 253 flights
- January 2026: 82.4% from 233 flights
- February 2026: 86.0% from 218 flights
- March 2026: 80.7% from 247 flights
- April 2026: 92.3% from 249 flights
- May 2026: 87.5% from 270 flights
- June 2026: 85.4% from 270 flights
- July 2026: 74.6% from 294 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 85.3% against 85.3% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,792 CMH → ATL 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