Raleigh/Durham to Atlanta

What the Data Says About RDU to ATL

The Raleigh/Durham to Atlanta corridor (RDU → ATL) covers roughly 356 miles and is served by 10 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 25,294 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 87.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 75.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 9,357 flights were recorded on this pairing — 93 cancelled (1.0%) and 11 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 10 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 25,294 total flights analyzed, the 87.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 75.2-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, Sep 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 96% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 71% on-time — a 24-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the RDU to ATL route, the combination of a 87.4% on-time rate, 75.2-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 10 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.