Albany to Washington

What the Data Says About ALB to DCA

The Albany to Washington corridor (ALB → DCA) covers roughly 318 miles and is served by 10 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,871 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 75.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 92.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,471 flights were recorded on this pairing — 121 cancelled (4.9%) and 9 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 10 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,871 total flights analyzed, the 75.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 92.0-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while May 2025 came in at 55% on-time — a 35-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ALB to DCA route, the combination of a 75.6% on-time rate, 92.0-minute average delay, 4.9% recent cancellation rate, and 10 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.