Birmingham to Washington

What the Data Says About BHM to DCA

The Birmingham to Washington corridor (BHM → DCA) covers roughly 653 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 4,677 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 99.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,003 flights were recorded on this pairing — 76 cancelled (3.8%) and 9 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 4,677 total flights analyzed, the 81.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 99.1-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, Mar 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Feb 2025 came in at 61% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BHM to DCA route, the combination of a 81.6% on-time rate, 99.1-minute average delay, 3.8% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.