PHL → ATL Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · PHLNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:54 UTC

Philadelphia airport profile →

Destination · ATLNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:52 UTC

Atlanta airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

61/ 100Good

Better than 38% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 17,904 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

78.5%

13,767 of 17,531

Cancellation rate

1.83%

327 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-8 min

Average 6.0 min

Severe delays

8.2%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

73 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

17,904

7 carriers

PHL → ATL arrives on time 78.5% of the time; the return trip, ATL → PHL, arrives on time 74.7% of the time, a 3.9-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

PHL → ATL spends 30.0 minutes on the ground on a 666-mile trip: 18.7 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHL and 11.3 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 98% of 2,692 comparable routes.

Republic Airways arrived on time 90.0% of the time, against 64.8% 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 PHL → ATL flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

PHL → ATL cancelled 327 of 17,904 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 55. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 55.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 98 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather55.7%

Airline40.1%

Air traffic4.3%

Security0.0%

Of 327 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 98

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

182 cancellations, 55.7% of the total.

The airline1 in 137

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

131 cancellations, 40.1% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 1,279

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

14 cancellations, 4.3% 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.

327 coded cancellations were recorded on PHL → ATL; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

48 min late

against a median of 8 min early

Arrived an hour or more late8.2%

Typical delay when late73 min

Cancelled1.83%

Landed somewhere else0.26%

Percentiles over 17,904 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at ATL after arriving from PHL.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, PHL → ATL arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	34%	Likely to miss
45 min	21%	High risk
60 min	14%	Some risk
90 min	8.1%	Some risk
120 min	5.0%	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 1.83% of the time and diverts 0.26% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 17,531 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 48 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 17,904 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

PHL → ATL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 86.2% of the time, against 65.8% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 20.4 percentage points.

By day and hour

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

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 3.4 points.

On-time arrival rate for PHL to ATL by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
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

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 8 PM (597 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 PHL to ATL. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	86.1% on time232 flights	92.0% on time178 flights	92.5% on time177 flights	93.0% on time228 flights	89.3% on time243 flights	84.5% on time215 flights	83.5% on time256 flights
6 AM–7 AM	81.7% on time160 flights	89.9% on time162 flights	88.1% on time177 flights	87.3% on time159 flights	81.2% on time155 flights	112 flights, too few to score	88.3% on time137 flights
7 AM–8 AM	82.0% on time175 flights	85.6% on time158 flights	93.2% on time133 flights	91.9% on time160 flights	80.2% on time175 flights	78.4% on time165 flights	82.5% on time164 flights
8 AM–9 AM	82.1% on time293 flights	87.5% on time280 flights	89.5% on time280 flights	84.3% on time318 flights	86.5% on time301 flights	87.3% on time195 flights	82.6% on time294 flights
9 AM–10 AM	60 flights, too few to score	44 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score	55 flights, too few to score	46 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	84.7% on time203 flights	86.8% on time183 flights	92.3% on time209 flights	88.8% on time189 flights	81.1% on time199 flights	87.2% on time149 flights	89.2% on time190 flights
11 AM–12 PM	89 flights, too few to score	98 flights, too few to score	78 flights, too few to score	85 flights, too few to score	82 flights, too few to score	108 flights, too few to score	88 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	69.3% on time129 flights	108 flights, too few to score	102 flights, too few to score	78.7% on time137 flights	70.3% on time132 flights	77.3% on time130 flights	69.4% on time141 flights
1 PM–2 PM	77.5% on time215 flights	83.0% on time166 flights	83.7% on time166 flights	83.1% on time184 flights	73.5% on time204 flights	75.0% on time152 flights	72.5% on time191 flights
2 PM–3 PM	88 flights, too few to score	98 flights, too few to score	102 flights, too few to score	80 flights, too few to score	88 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	76 flights, too few to score
3 PM–4 PM	76.7% on time225 flights	78.0% on time234 flights	76.9% on time249 flights	72.0% on time239 flights	75.9% on time233 flights	74.4% on time177 flights	71.4% on time227 flights
4 PM–5 PM	70.8% on time138 flights	119 flights, too few to score	119 flights, too few to score	69.0% on time145 flights	71.4% on time137 flights	91 flights, too few to score	62.1% on time146 flights
5 PM–6 PM	68.5% on time130 flights	77.5% on time133 flights	86.3% on time124 flights	75.2% on time140 flights	68.5% on time132 flights	77.2% on time143 flights	65.7% on time140 flights
6 PM–7 PM	65.4% on time243 flights	72.8% on time194 flights	70.2% on time220 flights	63.9% on time246 flights	64.0% on time224 flights	62.6% on time193 flights	57.0% on time235 flights
7 PM–8 PM	65.6% on time251 flights	80.2% on time193 flights	75.3% on time179 flights	64.6% on time248 flights	64.1% on time266 flights	65.2% on time141 flights	58.7% on time257 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM86.2%

9 AM–12 PM86.0%

12–3 PM78.7%

3–6 PM73.7%

6–9 PM65.8%

9 PM–5 AM68.6%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why PHL → ATL runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft41.6%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline32.7%

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

Air traffic control22.3%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather3.3%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

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

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHL → ATL, at 41.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 86.2% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 65.8%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of PHL to ATL: 4.3 times the normal rate at PHL and 3.3 times at ATL. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: PHL 6.5% against 1.5%, ATL 3.4% against 1.0%. Flights that did leave PHL in bad weather arrived on time 64.3% of the time, against 78.2% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from PHL and ATL in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	PHL	ATL
Cancelled in bad weather	6.5%	3.4%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.5%	1.0%
Arrived on time, bad weather	64.3%	66.5%
Arrived on time, normal hours	78.2%	80.2%
Departures in bad weather	32,038	105,854

Of the carriers on this route, Southwest Airlines (2.8% cancelled against 6.4% for the other carriers at PHL) cancelled the fewest departures from PHL in bad weather and PSA Airlines (10.7% cancelled against 6.5% for the other carriers at PHL) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at PHL

All departures from PHL

Cancellation rates in bad weather at PHL for the airlines that fly PHL to ATL, against the other carriers at PHL in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
Southwest Airlines	1,682	2.8%below the others	6.4%
Delta Air Lines	2,087	4.0%below the others	6.7%
Spirit Airlines	1,352	5.1%about level	5.9%
American Airlines	14,281	6.4%about level	6.8%
Frontier Airlines	3,603	6.5%about level	6.2%
Republic Airways	2,585	7.7%above the others	6.2%
PSA Airlines	4,346	10.7%above the others	6.5%

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

Weather source and limits. In full: PHL (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.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
Delta Air Lines	9,106	84.3%	1.53%	-11 min	5.8%
Frontier Airlines	2,834	64.8%	2.58%	0 min	13.8%
American Airlines	1,996	71.0%	1.75%	-5 min	12.4%
PSA Airlines	1,806	78.8%	3.05%	-10 min	8.8%
Southwest Airlines	976	78.4%	0.31%	-5 min	5.8%
Spirit Airlines	809	74.1%	1.85%	-5 min	9.2%
Republic Airways	377	90.0%	1.86%	-12 min	2.7%

Delta Air Lines flew 50.9% of the 17,904 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 3.05% of its flights here against 0.31% for Southwest Airlines.

Republic Airways arrived on time 25.2 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
DL1152 Delta Air Lines	7:00 AM	748	85.7%
DL1180 Delta Air Lines	8:05 AM	694	88.4%
DL1269 Delta Air Lines	5:30 AM	693	91.2%
F91003 Frontier Airlines	7:10 PM	621	68.2%

DL1269 (5:30 AM) arrived on time 91.2% of the time, 23.0 points more often than F91003 (7:10 PM) at 68.2%.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon76.3%

Tue82.5%

Wed84.3%

Thu78.8%

Fri76.6%

Sat77.9%

Sun74.0%

Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.3 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 19.0 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 78.8% against 76.0% in the 12 months before — improving by 2.8 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 17,904 PHL → 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

PHL airport ATL airport Return direction ATL → PHL

PHL→ATL

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why PHL → ATL 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 PHL → ATL 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 PHL

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology