Atlanta to Houston

What the Data Says About ATL to IAH

The Atlanta to Houston corridor (ATL → IAH) covers roughly 689 miles and is served by 37 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 26,083 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 70.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 9,092 flights were recorded on this pairing — 155 cancelled (1.7%) and 34 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 37 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 26,083 total flights analyzed, the 79.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 70.1-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 87% on-time, while Jun 2025 came in at 60% on-time — a 27-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ATL to IAH route, the combination of a 79.5% on-time rate, 70.1-minute average delay, 1.7% recent cancellation rate, and 37 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.