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Rankings / Routes / Los Angeles to Atlanta

2025 flights

Los Angeles to Atlanta

Between Los Angeles and Atlanta, 2.6 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 15 thousand flights of about 1,937 miles and 4.0 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 261 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 174 kg on Frontier Airlines to 275 kg on Delta Air Lines.

  • 261 kgCO2 per passenger, average
  • 1,937 milesabout 4.0 hours in the air
  • 2.6 millionpassengers in 2025
  • 87%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

CO2 per passenger by airline, Los Angeles to AtlantaBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Los Angeles and Atlanta in 2025.0100200Frontier Airlines174 kgSpirit Airlines194 kgAmerican Airlines271 kgDelta Air Lines275 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, Los Angeles to AtlantaBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Los Angeles and Atlanta in 2025.0100200Frontier Airlines174 kgSpirit Airlines194 kgAmerican Airlines271 kgDelta Air Lines275 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.
Los Angeles to Atlanta by airline, 2025
AirlineShare of passengersFlights (thousands)Main aircraftSeats per flightSeats filledkg CO2 per passenger
Delta Air Lines80%12.4Airbus A321, Boeing 757-20019487%275
Spirit Airlines8%1.2Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320neo20087%194
Frontier Airlines7%0.9Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320neo22487%174
American Airlines5%0.8Airbus A321, Airbus A321neo19083%271

What explains the differences

It's number 39 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 21 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.13 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 1,937 miles in this set comes out at about 267 kg, so this one is close to that.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: ATL to LAX (74%), ATL to SNA (12%), ATL to ONT (12%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 58% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 3,496 gallons per flight and 196 passengers on each, and Delta Air Lines 4,744 gallons and 168 passengers. Fuel burned per flight explains about 67% of the gap and the number of passengers on each flight the other 33%. Frontier Airlines flew 87% full here against 87% for Delta Air Lines, flying mostly Airbus A321neo against Airbus A321.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 250 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 4.6% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.8 million passengers on 16 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 2.6 million, down 8%, on 15 thousand flights, down 6%. The average flight had 190 seats then and 196 now, and 91% of them were filled against 87%.

CO2 per passenger was 261 kg in 2019 and 261 kg in 2025, unchanged. Fuel burned per flight was down 1.7% (4,625 gallons to 4,548) and passengers per flight were down 1.9% (173 to 170). The distance flown was about the same (1,941 miles then, 1,937 now).

Delta Air Lines led in both years, with 75% of passengers in 2019 and 80% in 2025. Frontier Airlines gained the most share, 2% to 7%. American Airlines lost the most, 10% to 5%. Southwest Airlines no longer reaches 1% of passengers, having had 8% in 2019.

Airline by airline, Spirit Airlines went from 230 kg to 194 kg per passenger (165 seats per flight to 200, main aircraft Airbus A320-200 then and Airbus A321neo now); Delta Air Lines went from 262 kg to 275 kg per passenger (200 seats per flight to 194, main aircraft Boeing 757-200 then and Airbus A321 now).

The airports changed too: ATL to LAX handled 79% of the passengers in 2019 and 74% in 2025.

Los Angeles to Atlanta, 2019 and 2025
Measure20192025
Passengers (thousands)2,8282,593
Flights (thousands)16.315.3
Seats filled91%87%
Gallons of fuel per flight4,6254,548
kg CO2 per passenger261261
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Los Angeles to AtlantaBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Los Angeles to Atlanta for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.0100200Delta Air Lines 2019262 kgDelta Air Lines 2025275 kgSpirit Airlines 2019230 kgSpirit Airlines 2025194 kgFrontier Airlines 2019199 kgFrontier Airlines 2025174 kgAmerican Airlines 2019282 kgAmerican Airlines 2025271 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Los Angeles to AtlantaBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Los Angeles to Atlanta for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.0100200Delta Air Lines 2019262 kgDelta Air Lines 2025275 kgSpirit Airlines 2019230 kgSpirit Airlines 2025194 kgFrontier Airlines 2019199 kgFrontier Airlines 2025174 kgAmerican Airlines 2019282 kgAmerican Airlines 2025271 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

Los Angeles to Atlanta and back: time in the air

Flights from Atlanta to Los Angeles spent 257 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 223 minutes from Los Angeles to Atlanta: 33 minutes longer, 15% more. That's the westbound direction, into the prevailing west-to-east winds, which at flight levels often blow at well over 50 miles an hour.

At this route's average burn of about 1,137 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 629 gallons per flight, which is about 3.7 gallons or 36 kg of CO2 for each passenger on the slower direction. The route figure above averages both directions.

Time in the air by direction, 2025
DirectionAverage minutes in the airFlights
Atlanta to Los Angeles256.57,658
Los Angeles to Atlanta223.37,625

Fly or drive

Driving is about 2,266 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 673 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 158% more than the 261 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (224 kg each, and 168 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 893 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person by way of travel, Los Angeles to AtlantaBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Los Angeles and Atlanta.0200400600Flight, average261 kgCar, driver alone673 kgCar, 2 people337 kgCar, 4 people168 kg
CO2 per person by way of travel, Los Angeles to AtlantaBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Los Angeles and Atlanta.0200400600Flight, average261 kgCar, driver alone673 kgCar, 2 people337 kgCar, 4 people168 kg
CO2 per person, Los Angeles to Atlanta. Driving figures divide one car's emissions between the people in it. See flying vs driving for other trip lengths.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Los Angeles to San Francisco75 kg CO2 per passenger over 337 milesNew York to Atlanta124 kg CO2 per passenger over 758 milesLos Angeles to Las Vegas53 kg CO2 per passenger over 227 milesNew York to Los Angeles406 kg CO2 per passenger over 2,465 milesLos Angeles to Houston183 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,373 milesLas Vegas to Houston164 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,227 milesChicago to Miami161 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,187 milesDenver to Houston119 kg CO2 per passenger over 869 miles

Airports on this route: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, John Wayne Airport, Ontario International Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.