Richmond to Atlanta

What the Data Says About RIC to ATL

The Richmond to Atlanta corridor (RIC → ATL) covers roughly 481 miles and is served by 4 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 18,198 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 88.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 75.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,833 flights were recorded on this pairing — 61 cancelled (1.0%) and 4 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 4 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 18,198 total flights analyzed, the 88.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 75.3-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 98% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 69% on-time — a 29-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the RIC to ATL route, the combination of a 88.4% on-time rate, 75.3-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 4 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.