Cedar Rapids/Iowa City to Washington

What the Data Says About CID to DCA

The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City to Washington corridor (CID → DCA) covers roughly 801 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,167 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 91.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 959 flights were recorded on this pairing — 35 cancelled (3.6%) and 6 diverted (0.6%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,167 total flights analyzed, the 81.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 91.7-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, Nov 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 91% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 63% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CID to DCA route, the combination of a 81.7% on-time rate, 91.7-minute average delay, 3.6% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.