Hartford to Washington

What the Data Says About BDL to DCA

The Hartford to Washington corridor (BDL → DCA) covers roughly 313 miles and is served by 21 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,243 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 78.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,852 flights were recorded on this pairing — 155 cancelled (4.0%) and 11 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 21 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,243 total flights analyzed, the 78.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.7-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 61% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BDL to DCA route, the combination of a 78.9% on-time rate, 85.7-minute average delay, 4.0% recent cancellation rate, and 21 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.