Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA): Delays & On-Time Performance
Data through May 2026
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is a tale of two seasons: departures ran 88% on-time in October 2024 but sank to 67% in February 2025. Across the year it averages 76% against a national 78%, over roughly 390 departures a day to 105 destinations.
- Departures on-time
- 76%
- left <15 min late
- Avg dep delay
- 20 min
- Arrivals on-time
- 74%
- Cancelled
- 3.3%
- Destinations
- 105
- nonstop
- Airlines
- 12
Monthly on-time trend
Best time of day to depart from DCA
Busiest routes from DCA
| Route | Flights/12mo | On-time | Avg delay |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCA → BOS | 9,071 | 75% | 21 min |
| DCA → ORD | 6,922 | 77% | 20 min |
| DCA → ATL | 6,819 | 79% | 18 min |
| DCA → LGA | 4,818 | 72% | 22 min |
| DCA → MCO | 4,586 | 76% | 20 min |
| DCA → BNA | 4,304 | 77% | 17 min |
| DCA → MIA | 3,959 | 77% | 20 min |
| DCA → DFW | 3,312 | 79% | 20 min |
Airline performance at DCA
| Airline | On-time departures | Avg delay | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 84% | 16 min | 13,209 |
| Frontier Airlines | 82% | 16 min | 2,075 |
| Republic Airways | 82% | 13 min | 53,839 |
| Envoy Air | 80% | 16 min | 9,097 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 79% | 20 min | 164 |
| Delta Air Lines | 79% | 20 min | 18,654 |
| Endeavor Air | 78% | 23 min | 1,132 |
| American Airlines | 78% | 20 min | 55,069 |
| Alaska Airlines | 76% | 16 min | 4,075 |
| JetBlue Airways | 74% | 23 min | 14,181 |
| Southwest Airlines | 72% | 18 min | 31,852 |
| PSA Airlines | 70% | 25 min | 79,928 |
Frequently asked questions
- How often are flights delayed at DCA?
- 24% of departures from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport left 15+ minutes late between 2024-06 and 2026-05, with an average departure delay of 20 minutes. The national on-time average over the same period was 78%.
- What is the best time of day to depart from DCA?
- Flights scheduled around 6 a.m. depart on time 92% of the time at DCA, versus 63% around 6 p.m.. Booking before noon is the usual rule of thumb here.
- What is the worst month for delays at DCA?
- In this dataset, February 2025 was the weakest month at DCA, with 67% of departures on time.
- How often are flights cancelled at DCA?
- 3.3% of scheduled departures from DCA were cancelled in this period, compared with a national rate of 1.6%.
Popular route pages from this airport
Based on 283,275 flights, 2024-06–2026-05. Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Updated 2026-07-01.