Route profile
DCA→ATL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Washington to Atlanta, 547 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 33% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 21,172 flights. How this is calculated
DCA → ATL arrives on time 80.1% of the time; the return trip, ATL → DCA, arrives on time 73.7% of the time, a 6.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DCA → ATL spends 28.1 minutes on the ground on a 547-mile trip: 19.7 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DCA and 8.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at ATL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 94% of 4,023 comparable routes.
88.4% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 55.8% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
Why DCA → ATL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DCA → ATL cancelled 513 of 21,172 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 41. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 61.2% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 67 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 513 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.
314 cancellations, 61.2% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
123 cancellations, 24.0% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
76 cancellations, 14.8% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
513 coded cancellations were recorded on DCA → ATL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
45 min late
against a median of 8 min early
Percentiles over 21,172 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at ATL after arriving from DCA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 33% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.3% | Some 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 2.42% 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 20,616 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 45 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 21,172 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DCA → ATL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.4% of the time, against 55.8% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 32.6 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (DCA).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 8.0 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.4 points.
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
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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 after 9 PM (155 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 89.4% on time551 flights | 90.0% on time529 flights | 91.9% on time430 flights | 89.7% on time550 flights | 89.5% on time544 flights | 95.6% on time347 flights | 93.1% on time311 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 82.6% on time194 flights | 87.0% on time199 flights | 90.6% on time216 flights | 84.7% on time193 flights | 82.1% on time194 flights | 84.3% on time162 flights | 88.0% on time240 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 87.2% on time249 flights | 84.6% on time251 flights | 87.2% on time229 flights | 84.3% on time252 flights | 83.3% on time245 flights | 88.3% on time318 flights | 86.3% on time278 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 113 flights, too few to score | 114 flights, too few to score | 112 flights, too few to score | 114 flights, too few to score | 113 flights, too few to score | 99 flights, too few to score | 83.2% on time128 flights |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 87.0% on time194 flights | 87.3% on time191 flights | 90.0% on time192 flights | 83.3% on time192 flights | 81.7% on time191 flights | 90.7% on time163 flights | 87.6% on time175 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 75.2% on time124 flights | 80.5% on time129 flights | 85.0% on time128 flights | 84.7% on time126 flights | 114 flights, too few to score | 103 flights, too few to score | 84.0% on time129 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 82.4% on time222 flights | 82.1% on time225 flights | 88.2% on time229 flights | 86.8% on time221 flights | 82.0% on time221 flights | 84.6% on time187 flights | 76.1% on time209 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 75.8% on time219 flights | 78.9% on time226 flights | 82.5% on time226 flights | 78.4% on time221 flights | 78.7% on time219 flights | 81.0% on time211 flights | 75.9% on time227 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 98 flights, too few to score | 83 flights, too few to score | 81 flights, too few to score | 97 flights, too few to score | 101 flights, too few to score | 114 flights, too few to score | 81 flights, too few to score |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 75.8% on time198 flights | 79.9% on time205 flights | 81.8% on time203 flights | 75.1% on time194 flights | 75.1% on time193 flights | 95 flights, too few to score | 71.8% on time176 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 97 flights, too few to score | 96 flights, too few to score | 96 flights, too few to score | 96 flights, too few to score | 100 flights, too few to score | 73.2% on time160 flights | 113 flights, too few to score |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 66.4% on time148 flights | 73.5% on time147 flights | 70.2% on time148 flights | 77.7% on time148 flights | 65.9% on time145 flights | 92 flights, too few to score | 62.5% on time154 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 71.4% on time214 flights | 73.1% on time207 flights | 63.0% on time205 flights | 63.7% on time209 flights | 65.0% on time212 flights | 77.9% on time176 flights | 62.4% on time210 flights |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 71.2% on time294 flights | 76.3% on time306 flights | 72.8% on time307 flights | 72.3% on time291 flights | 59.1% on time293 flights | 78.9% on time148 flights | 61.7% on time275 flights |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 78.3% on time251 flights | 80.7% on time240 flights | 76.4% on time238 flights | 74.4% on time241 flights | 69.5% on time242 flights | 38 flights, too few to score | 69.8% on time272 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 90.9% on time from 3,262 flights
- 7 AM: 85.8% on time from 1,398 flights
- 8 AM: 86.0% on time from 1,822 flights
- 9 AM: 86.0% on time from 793 flights
- 10 AM: 86.7% on time from 1,298 flights
- 11 AM: 83.3% on time from 853 flights
- 12 PM: 83.3% on time from 1,514 flights
- 1 PM: 78.8% on time from 1,549 flights
- 2 PM: 73.0% on time from 655 flights
- 3 PM: 76.9% on time from 1,264 flights
- 4 PM: 70.9% on time from 758 flights
- 5 PM: 69.4% on time from 982 flights
- 6 PM: 67.9% on time from 1,433 flights
- 7 PM: 69.8% on time from 1,914 flights
- 8 PM: 74.9% on time from 1,522 flights
- 9 PM: 54.3% on time from 124 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DCA → 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 DCA → ATL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DCA → ATL, at 43.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.4% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 55.8%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of DCA to ATL: 4.2 times the normal rate at DCA and 3.3 times at ATL. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: DCA 9.3% against 2.2%, ATL 3.4% against 1.0%. Flights that did leave DCA in bad weather arrived on time 63.5% of the time, against 78.3% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | DCA | ATL |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 9.3% | 3.4% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 2.2% | 1.0% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 63.5% | 66.5% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 78.3% | 80.2% |
| Departures in bad weather | 41,449 | 105,854 |
Of the carriers on this route, Delta Air Lines (5.3% cancelled against 10.0% for the other carriers at DCA) cancelled the fewest departures from DCA in bad weather and PSA Airlines (14.6% cancelled against 7.4% for the other carriers at DCA) the most.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at DCA
All departures from DCA| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 2,726 | 5.3%below the others | 10.0% |
| Southwest Airlines | 4,730 | 6.0%below the others | 10.0% |
| American Airlines | 8,236 | 6.4%below the others | 9.5% |
| Envoy Air | 1,297 | 11.4%about level | 10.4% |
| Republic Airways | 7,801 | 10.7%above the others | 9.0% |
| PSA Airlines | 11,172 | 14.6%above the others | 7.4% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from DCA and ATL, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from DCA on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: DCA (airlines), ATL, 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.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 11,809 | 81.5% | 1.91% | -10 min | 7.7% |
| Southwest Airlines | 4,061 | 79.1% | 1.35% | -5 min | 7.1% |
| PSA Airlines | 2,670 | 72.9% | 5.84% | -5 min | 11.7% |
| Republic Airways | 1,879 | 83.8% | 3.03% | -10 min | 4.9% |
| Envoy Air | 401 | 79.1% | 3.24% | -7 min | 7.0% |
| American Airlines | 352 | 75.7% | 1.70% | -8 min | 14.8% |
Delta Air Lines flew 55.8% of the 21,172 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 5.84% of its flights here against 1.35% for Southwest Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 10.9 percentage points more often than PSA Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Washington to Atlanta
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
BWI → ATL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 78.7% on time, against 80.1% for DCA → ATL.
Flying to ATL from the Washington area? Compare DCA, BWI, IAD for ATL, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL410 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 92.0% of the time, 7.8 points more often than DL455 (9:00 AM) at 84.2%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 78.8%
- Feb: 81.1%
- Mar: 82.8%
- Apr: 82.7%
- May: 74.1%
- Jun: 76.0%
- Jul: 66.1%
- Aug: 79.4%
- Sep: 86.9%
- Oct: 88.9%
- Nov: 86.8%
- Dec: 81.0%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 22.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 71.2% from 594 flights
- August 2023: 76.8% from 600 flights
- September 2023: 89.9% from 573 flights
- October 2023: 91.2% from 593 flights
- November 2023: 91.5% from 562 flights
- December 2023: 91.1% from 554 flights
- January 2024: 77.1% from 571 flights
- February 2024: 90.0% from 550 flights
- March 2024: 88.5% from 582 flights
- April 2024: 84.1% from 568 flights
- May 2024: 75.0% from 587 flights
- June 2024: 83.1% from 563 flights
- July 2024: 64.6% from 591 flights
- August 2024: 80.9% from 565 flights
- September 2024: 85.9% from 558 flights
- October 2024: 91.5% from 591 flights
- November 2024: 89.9% from 566 flights
- December 2024: 78.8% from 575 flights
- January 2025: 77.8% from 589 flights
- February 2025: 71.6% from 532 flights
- March 2025: 82.5% from 586 flights
- April 2025: 81.1% from 579 flights
- May 2025: 71.7% from 592 flights
- June 2025: 66.9% from 568 flights
- July 2025: 66.7% from 582 flights
- August 2025: 80.7% from 583 flights
- September 2025: 85.0% from 594 flights
- October 2025: 83.8% from 582 flights
- November 2025: 78.4% from 543 flights
- December 2025: 72.9% from 544 flights
- January 2026: 81.5% from 572 flights
- February 2026: 81.0% from 528 flights
- March 2026: 77.0% from 586 flights
- April 2026: 83.1% from 563 flights
- May 2026: 75.8% from 574 flights
- June 2026: 77.9% from 562 flights
- July 2026: 61.5% from 570 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.2% against 78.8% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 21,172 DCA → 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