According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Washington, DC (DCA) ranks #15 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Washington, DC posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
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DCA on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes: 10,144,484.
Late Aircraft46.4% (4,712,038 min)
Carrier28.7% (2,915,498 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)19.7% (1,996,009 min)
Weather5.0% (505,508 min)
Security0.2% (15,431 min)
DCA - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: October (92.7%) · worst: July (87.5%)
DCA - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
DCA - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 21.5 min · taxi-in 7.5 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
DCA's average taxi-out (21.5 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is June 2025 at 23.0 min; the lightest is October 2024 at 20.0 min.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Washington, DC, both outside Virginia so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Washington, DC is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 46.4% of 10,144,484 delay minutes across 1,425,060 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 80.8% (1.8 pts above the 79% national average), with 274,313 delayed and 21,697 cancelled (1.52%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (46.4% late-aircraft, 28.7% carrier, 19.7% NAS, 5.0% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, DCA is strongest in October (92.7% on-time) and weakest in July (87.5%), a 5.2-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~21,453 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to BOS (Boston) at 81.6% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Washington, DC vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
80.8%Top 79%higher than 21% of 382 airports
Washington, DC
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
DCA's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from DCA before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in October rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. June 2025 averaged 23.0 min. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Washington, DC's on-time rate?
Washington, DC (DCA) has a 80.8% on-time rate across 1,425,060 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 1.8 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does DCA rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Washington, DC ranks #15 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at Washington, DC?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at DCA, accounting for 46.4% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 46.4% late-aircraft, 28.7% carrier, 19.7% NAS/air-traffic-control, 5.0% weather, and 0.2% security.
When is the best time to fly through Washington, DC?
October is historically DCA's strongest month at 92.7% on-time, while July is the weakest at 87.5%, a 5.2-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights