Charlotte to Washington

What the Data Says About CLT to DCA

The Charlotte to Washington corridor (CLT → DCA) covers roughly 331 miles and is served by 9 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 17,255 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 76.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 72.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 6,345 flights were recorded on this pairing — 103 cancelled (1.6%) and 20 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 9 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 17,255 total flights analyzed, the 76.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 72.3-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 84% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 53% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CLT to DCA route, the combination of a 76.9% on-time rate, 72.3-minute average delay, 1.6% recent cancellation rate, and 9 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.