Route profile
LAX→ATL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Los Angeles to Atlanta, 1,947 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 58% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 16,272 flights. How this is calculated
LAX → ATL arrives on time 78.7% of the time; the return trip, ATL → LAX, arrives on time 77.0% of the time.
LAX → ATL spends 28.4 minutes on the ground on a 1,947-mile trip: 18.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LAX and 10.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at ATL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
The airline matters unusually much on this route, a wider carrier-to-carrier gap than 100% of 2,692 comparable routes.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 81.1% of the time, against 50.3% for Frontier Airlines, flying the exact same route.
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.
Why LAX → ATL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
LAX → ATL cancelled 136 of 16,272 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 120. The reason filed most often was the airline, 58.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 206 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 136 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.
79 cancellations, 58.1% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
55 cancellations, 40.4% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
2 cancellations, 1.5% 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.
136 coded cancellations were recorded on LAX → ATL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
40 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 16,272 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at ATL after arriving from LAX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 21% | High risk |
| 60 min | 13% | 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 0.84% of the time and diverts 0.29% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 16,088 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 40 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 16,272 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LAX → ATL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 85.2% of the time, against 74.3% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 10.9 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (LAX).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 6.0 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.6 points.
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On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 65–69
- 70–74
- 75–79
- 80–84
- 85–89
- 90–94
- 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 6 AM (353 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 | 89.0% on time159 flights | 90.4% on time158 flights | 93.6% on time156 flights | 93.4% on time182 flights | 90.4% on time159 flights | 89.5% on time173 flights | 89.9% on time191 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 87.7% on time156 flights | 92.0% on time152 flights | 92.1% on time153 flights | 90.7% on time151 flights | 89.7% on time156 flights | 83.8% on time171 flights | 86.2% on time154 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 78.2% on time193 flights | 77.1% on time172 flights | 80.5% on time166 flights | 78.8% on time170 flights | 70.6% on time195 flights | 75.7% on time184 flights | 69.5% on time170 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 77.5% on time234 flights | 76.5% on time239 flights | 79.8% on time244 flights | 75.2% on time239 flights | 70.7% on time229 flights | 67.6% on time228 flights | 71.3% on time244 flights |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 111 flights, too few to score | 81.8% on time122 flights | 115 flights, too few to score | 87.3% on time126 flights | 115 flights, too few to score | 110 flights, too few to score | 87.1% on time126 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 81.4% on time143 flights | 80.0% on time145 flights | 82.1% on time140 flights | 77.5% on time139 flights | 71.6% on time145 flights | 77.2% on time124 flights | 67.6% on time141 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 78.0% on time161 flights | 82.6% on time156 flights | 83.3% on time162 flights | 76.0% on time167 flights | 75.3% on time168 flights | 72.8% on time151 flights | 75.6% on time167 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 65.4% on time155 flights | 81.7% on time126 flights | 80.6% on time125 flights | 78.7% on time129 flights | 73.9% on time145 flights | 113 flights, too few to score | 71.1% on time131 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 76.2% on time174 flights | 86.6% on time180 flights | 79.5% on time185 flights | 78.2% on time176 flights | 74.1% on time172 flights | 71.8% on time178 flights | 76.7% on time176 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 48 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score | 47 flights, too few to score | 46 flights, too few to score | 35 flights, too few to score | 51 flights, too few to score |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 29 flights, too few to score | 37 flights, too few to score | 23 flights, too few to score | 23 flights, too few to score | 23 flights, too few to score | 43 flights, too few to score | 27 flights, too few to score |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 81.3% on time136 flights | 90.8% on time133 flights | 86.8% on time145 flights | 80.3% on time138 flights | 83.3% on time139 flights | 91 flights, too few to score | 77.1% on time134 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 3 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 1 flight, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 9 PM–10 PM | 79.3% on time184 flights | 82.4% on time165 flights | 75.6% on time172 flights | 76.8% on time185 flights | 75.1% on time189 flights | 79.3% on time174 flights | 74.3% on time190 flights |
| 10 PM–11 PM | 67.9% on time272 flights | 72.4% on time246 flights | 75.3% on time239 flights | 71.5% on time264 flights | 71.4% on time262 flights | 69.5% on time223 flights | 65.0% on time259 flights |
| 11 PM–12 AM | 75.3% on time194 flights | 116 flights, too few to score | 114 flights, too few to score | 75.9% on time193 flights | 71.6% on time196 flights | 76.8% on time157 flights | 68.9% on time198 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM: 85.7% on time from 166 flights
- 1 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 93.5% on time from 155 flights
- 6 AM: 90.9% on time from 1,178 flights
- 7 AM: 88.8% on time from 1,093 flights
- 8 AM: 75.7% on time from 1,250 flights
- 9 AM: 74.1% on time from 1,657 flights
- 10 AM: 83.6% on time from 825 flights
- 11 AM: 76.8% on time from 977 flights
- 12 PM: 77.7% on time from 1,132 flights
- 1 PM: 74.3% on time from 924 flights
- 2 PM: 77.6% on time from 1,241 flights
- 3 PM: 82.4% on time from 325 flights
- 4 PM: 82.4% on time from 205 flights
- 5 PM: 84.4% on time from 916 flights
- 6 PM to 8 PM: too few flights to score
- 9 PM: 77.5% on time from 1,259 flights
- 10 PM: 70.4% on time from 1,765 flights
- 11 PM: 75.7% on time from 1,168 flights
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why LAX → ATL 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 LAX → ATL. 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 ATL, where the flight lands. Its figure counts departures from ATL, so it says more about how that airport copes than about this route. Bad weather cancels 3.3 times the normal rate at ATL against 1.3 times at LAX. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: LAX 1.0% against 0.8%, ATL 3.4% against 1.0%. 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 | LAX | ATL |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 1.0% | 3.4% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 78.9% | 66.5% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 81.4% | 80.2% |
| Departures in bad weather | 60,639 | 105,854 |
Of the carriers on this route, American Airlines (0.8% cancelled against 1.1% for the other carriers at LAX) cancelled the fewest departures from LAX in bad weather and Frontier Airlines (3.1% cancelled against 1.0% for the other carriers at LAX) the most.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at LAX
All departures from LAX| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 9,554 | 0.8%below the others | 1.1% |
| Delta Air Lines | 11,619 | 0.9%about level | 1.0% |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,995 | 1.8%above the others | 1.0% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,064 | 3.1%above the others | 1.0% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from LAX and ATL, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from LAX on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: LAX (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 | 12,180 | 81.1% | 0.69% | -5 min | 5.6% |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,884 | 78.5% | 1.22% | -7 min | 5.0% |
| American Airlines | 1,237 | 74.9% | 0.40% | -6 min | 12.2% |
| Frontier Airlines | 907 | 50.3% | 2.65% | 14 min | 18.0% |
Delta Air Lines flew 75.1% of the 16,208 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.65% of its flights here against 0.40% for American Airlines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 30.8 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.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL515 Delta Air Lines | 7:15 AM | 1,022 | 80.4% |
| DL390 Delta Air Lines | 6:00 AM | 947 | 90.5% |
| DL395 Delta Air Lines | 1:25 PM | 915 | 77.7% |
| DL715 Delta Air Lines | 2:15 PM | 911 | 80.2% |
| DL899 Delta Air Lines | 10:45 PM | 893 | 77.0% |
| DL528 Delta Air Lines | 11:05 AM | 721 | 80.3% |
| DL471 Delta Air Lines | 5:00 PM | 700 | 84.5% |
| DL782 Delta Air Lines | 8:45 AM | 687 | 81.3% |
| DL320 Delta Air Lines | 11:59 PM | 668 | 75.3% |
| DL327 Delta Air Lines | 10:15 AM | 662 | 81.3% |
DL390 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 90.5% of the time, 15.2 points more often than DL320 (11:59 PM) at 75.3%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 74.9%
- Feb: 80.3%
- Mar: 76.0%
- Apr: 78.9%
- May: 77.3%
- Jun: 72.9%
- Jul: 72.0%
- Aug: 79.6%
- Sep: 88.3%
- Oct: 87.0%
- Nov: 80.7%
- Dec: 77.3%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 16.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 73.0% from 478 flights
- August 2023: 77.3% from 509 flights
- September 2023: 92.5% from 533 flights
- October 2023: 90.3% from 520 flights
- November 2023: 83.3% from 463 flights
- December 2023: 85.5% from 462 flights
- January 2024: 76.8% from 397 flights
- February 2024: 82.3% from 368 flights
- March 2024: 77.4% from 395 flights
- April 2024: 77.8% from 394 flights
- May 2024: 74.3% from 445 flights
- June 2024: 71.4% from 461 flights
- July 2024: 66.8% from 471 flights
- August 2024: 80.4% from 465 flights
- September 2024: 83.8% from 456 flights
- October 2024: 85.4% from 467 flights
- November 2024: 83.1% from 440 flights
- December 2024: 74.4% from 466 flights
- January 2025: 75.7% from 434 flights
- February 2025: 81.0% from 385 flights
- March 2025: 79.1% from 414 flights
- April 2025: 77.8% from 419 flights
- May 2025: 79.5% from 484 flights
- June 2025: 64.1% from 510 flights
- July 2025: 73.6% from 498 flights
- August 2025: 81.3% from 483 flights
- September 2025: 87.9% from 455 flights
- October 2025: 84.6% from 424 flights
- November 2025: 75.2% from 427 flights
- December 2025: 71.8% from 441 flights
- January 2026: 71.8% from 363 flights
- February 2026: 77.1% from 324 flights
- March 2026: 70.9% from 360 flights
- April 2026: 81.2% from 378 flights
- May 2026: 78.1% from 427 flights
- June 2026: 84.6% from 433 flights
- July 2026: 74.8% from 423 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.5% against 78.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 16,272 LAX → 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