Nashville to Washington

What the Data Says About BNA to DCA

The Nashville to Washington corridor (BNA → DCA) covers roughly 562 miles and is served by 36 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 19,060 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 71.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 8,402 flights were recorded on this pairing — 227 cancelled (2.7%) and 40 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 36 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 19,060 total flights analyzed, the 81.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 71.4-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 91% on-time, while Feb 2025 came in at 54% on-time — a 37-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BNA to DCA route, the combination of a 81.7% on-time rate, 71.4-minute average delay, 2.7% recent cancellation rate, and 36 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.