Washington to Birmingham

What the Data Says About DCA to BHM

The Washington to Birmingham corridor (DCA → BHM) covers roughly 653 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 4,679 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 76.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 84.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,005 flights were recorded on this pairing — 78 cancelled (3.9%) and 1 diverted (0.0%). 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 4,679 total flights analyzed, the 76.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 84.3-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, Mar 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while Feb 2025 came in at 56% on-time — a 32-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to BHM route, the combination of a 76.9% on-time rate, 84.3-minute average delay, 3.9% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.