ORD to DCA flight delays
ORD DCA Chicago O'Hare to Ronald Reagan Washington · 612 miles
19,515 flights were scheduled from ORD to DCA over July 2023 through June 2026. Of the 18,982 that made the trip, 73.1% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. These are arrival figures: “on time” means the flight reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Arrivals are what decide whether you make the connection, so route and airline pages are scored on them rather than on pushback.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
The route in brief
- Flights in the window
- 19,515
- Arrived on time
- 73.1%
- Cancelled
- 2.2%
- Scheduled distance
- 612 miles
Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled. Diverted flights are counted with them rather than as very late arrivals, which is why the on-time share and the cancellation rate do not add up to everything that happened.
Airline by airline
Airlines with at least 100 flights on ORD–DCA, busiest first. Same route, same weather, same air traffic — which makes this the fairest comparison on the site.
| Airline | Arrived on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 74.9% | 67 min | 1.5% | 9,978 |
| American Airlines | 70.6% | 99 min | 2.7% | 7,457 |
| Republic Airways | 71.9% | 75 min | 4.1% | 1,490 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 76.1% | 69 min | 2.4% | 419 |
| Envoy Air | 83.5% | — | 2.3% | 171 |
A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s flights arrived 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.
Month by month
July was the month to avoid on ORD–DCA: 65.1% of flights arrived on time, against 81.7% in October. Each bar pools three years of that calendar month.
| Month | Share flights that arrived on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74.3% | 1,660 |
| February | 71.6% | 1,529 |
| March | 70% | 1,648 |
| April | 75% | 1,573 |
| May | 67.5% | 1,663 |
| June | 69.6% | 1,706 |
| July | 65.1% | 1,645 |
| August | 69.5% | 1,671 |
| September | 75.5% | 1,620 |
| October | 81.7% | 1,659 |
| November | 80.6% | 1,574 |
| December | 77.3% | 1,567 |
Both ends of the route
A route’s record is built out of two airports’ habits. The hour-by-hour grid for each is on its own page.
ORD to DCA in one number
ORD → DCA
When a flight on this route was late, it was late by about 81 min.
Questions about ORD to DCA
- Which airline is most reliable from ORD to DCA?
- Envoy Air — its flights on this pairing arrived on time 83.5% of the time, with 171 scheduled. American Airlines came in at 70.6% over 7,457 scheduled. Airlines with fewer than 100 flights on the route are not rated.
- What is the worst month to fly ORD to DCA?
- July, at 65.1% of arrivals on time, with 1,645 flights scheduled. October was the best of the year at 81.7%.
- How late are ORD–DCA flights when they are late?
- 81 min on average, counting only the flights that arrived 15 minutes or more behind schedule. The on-time flights are left out of that average on purpose — mixing them in would flatter it.
- How often is the ORD to DCA flight cancelled?
- 2.2% of scheduled flights on this route were cancelled, July 2023 through June 2026. Diverted flights are counted with the cancellations rather than as late arrivals.
- Are these departure or arrival numbers?
- Arrival. A flight counts as on time here if it reached the gate at DCA less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Airport pages score departures instead, because that is the number you can act on when you pick a booking time.