Airport month record
ATLMAR
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International in March 2026
- Departures
- 26,669
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 12
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at ATL, see live FAA status.
ATL in March carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 3.5% of scheduled flights never operate, against 2.9% nationally. Of the ones that do fly, close to three flights in four arrive on time, worth a C− overall. The punctuality figure counts only flights that actually departed, so it flatters an operation that cancels this often. That rests on 26,669 flights, of which American Airlines flew 499 at 82.2% on time.
American Airlines is the most reliable of the seven carriers covered here at 82.2% on time across 499 flights.
Key figures
On time
74.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 25,655 completed departures
Avg delay
71 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
3.46%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
77.9%
ATL across all twelve months
These figures cover 26,669 departures from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International in March 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
March next to ATL's other months
Against ATL's own year, March ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 77.9%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where March stands out: 3.46% of scheduled departures were called off, 1.9 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 80.3% on time and April 82.1%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 25,839 | 86.5% | 54 min | 0.07% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 27,556 | 81.6% | 57 min | 0.20% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 25,888 | 80.3% | 66 min | 2.45% | B |
| December 2025 | 25,764 | 73.2% | 69 min | 2.38% | C |
| January 2026 | 24,595 | 78.3% | 61 min | 5.00% | B− |
| February 2026 | 23,024 | 80.3% | 56 min | 1.49% | B |
| March 2026 (this page) | 26,669 | 74.8% | 71 min | 3.46% | C− |
| April 2026 | 26,607 | 82.1% | 57 min | 1.00% | B |
| May 2026 | 27,535 | 77.2% | 61 min | 1.18% | B |
| June 2026 | 26,961 | 80.1% | 70 min | 1.38% | B |
| July 2026 | 28,068 | 66.5% | 79 min | 2.42% | C |
| August 2026 | 27,221 | 74.1% | 71 min | 1.19% | C |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave ATL in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 34 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am1,934 flights85.6%
- 8am–11am5,587 flights81.7%
- 11am–2pm3,957 flights79.5%
- 2pm–5pm5,150 flights73.4%
- 5pm–8pm4,187 flights68.9%
- 8pm–5am5,854 flights67.0%
Scale runs 60% to 90%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 85.6% of the time, against 67.0% for the overnight window. That is 19 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8pm–5am window is the busiest, with 5,854 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 80.8% on time and Monday the weakest at 69.2%, a spread of 12 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at ATL in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. American Airlines arrives on time 82.2% of the time; Spirit Airlines manages 48.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 470 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 20,264 | 77.1% | 65 min | 3.41% | B− |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,804 | 57.5% | 86 min | 3.66% | D− |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,386 | 74.2% | 60 min | 1.88% | C |
| United Airlines | 628 | 79.2% | 87 min | 1.59% | B |
| SkyWest Airlines | 601 | 68.3% | 103 min | 1.50% | C |
| American Airlines | 499 | 82.2% | 84 min | 1.60% | B |
| Spirit Airlines | 470 | 48.4% | 83 min | 12.13% | F− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 294 | 77.2% | 149 min | 7.14% | B− |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 266 | 63.8% | 85 min | 7.89% | D− |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 217 | 69.9% | 85 min | 3.69% | C− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 156 | 66.7% | 81 min | 5.13% | C− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 84 | 76.2% | 41 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Spirit Airlines cancels 12.1% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of ATL in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL to MCO · Orlando | 783 | 65.0% | 70 min | 4.09% | C− |
| ATL to FLL · Fort Lauderdale | 781 | 56.6% | 75 min | 5.89% | D− |
| ATL to LGA · New York | 674 | 65.0% | 95 min | 6.97% | C− |
| ATL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 587 | 76.8% | 93 min | 2.90% | B |
| ATL to DCA · Washington | 585 | 61.5% | 68 min | 5.13% | D− |
| ATL to MIA · Miami | 571 | 65.9% | 77 min | 4.20% | C− |
| ATL to TPA · Tampa | 568 | 72.1% | 68 min | 3.52% | C− |
| ATL to EWR · Newark | 564 | 67.2% | 66 min | 3.01% | C− |
| ATL to ORD · Chicago | 516 | 58.5% | 84 min | 5.62% | D− |
| ATL to DEN · Denver | 459 | 78.2% | 69 min | 2.83% | B |
| ATL to PHL · Philadelphia | 458 | 71.2% | 68 min | 4.15% | C− |
| ATL to IAH · Houston | 439 | 74.9% | 85 min | 6.38% | C− |
| ATL to DTW · Detroit | 422 | 70.8% | 69 min | 1.90% | C |
| ATL to BWI · Baltimore | 414 | 69.7% | 67 min | 3.86% | C− |
| ATL to LAS · Las Vegas | 407 | 79.2% | 74 min | 1.72% | B |
| ATL to BOS · Boston | 404 | 71.1% | 64 min | 2.23% | C |
| ATL to AUS · Austin | 381 | 84.9% | 54 min | 2.36% | B |
| ATL to RDU · Raleigh | 376 | 72.6% | 65 min | 3.72% | C− |
| ATL to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 364 | 76.5% | 57 min | 2.75% | B |
| ATL to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 359 | 85.8% | 68 min | 1.67% | A |
| ATL to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 357 | 76.3% | 63 min | 1.96% | B |
| ATL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 349 | 84.6% | 82 min | 1.43% | B |
| ATL to MSY · New Orleansthin sample | 347 | 80.0% | 74 min | 3.17% | B− |
| ATL to PBI · West Palm Beachthin sample | 347 | 67.7% | 65 min | 3.46% | C− |
| ATL to JAX · Jacksonvillethin sample | 340 | 70.8% | 75 min | 3.24% | C− |
Delay causes
What held ATL up in March
Carrier accounts for 43% of the 458,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 43%Carrier
- 26%Late-arriving aircraft
- 22%National Airspace System
- 9%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 43%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. It accounts for 195,000 of the 458,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 457,957 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 3.46%, against 2.90% nationally. That is about one flight in 30 cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
9.4% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% nationally. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum for a connection here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from ATL in March
For a March trip through ATL: expect 74.8% on time and 3.46% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL), the whole year
- ATL in September86.5%
- ATL in October81.6%
- ATL in November80.3%
- ATL in December73.2%
- ATL in January78.3%
- ATL in February80.3%
- ATL in April82.1%
- ATL in May77.2%
- ATL in June80.1%
- ATL in July66.5%
- ATL in August74.1%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.