Washington to Hartford

What the Data Says About DCA to BDL

The Washington to Hartford corridor (DCA → BDL) covers roughly 313 miles and is served by 21 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,237 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 78.1% on-time rate with an average delay of 70.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,849 flights were recorded on this pairing — 127 cancelled (3.3%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). 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 9,237 total flights analyzed, the 78.1% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 70.1-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 58% on-time — a 35-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to BDL route, the combination of a 78.1% on-time rate, 70.1-minute average delay, 3.3% recent cancellation rate, and 21 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.