Washington to Nashville

What the Data Says About DCA to BNA

The Washington to Nashville corridor (DCA → BNA) covers roughly 562 miles and is served by 35 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 19,093 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 69.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 8,404 flights were recorded on this pairing — 203 cancelled (2.4%) and 21 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 35 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 19,093 total flights analyzed, the 82.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 69.6-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 92% on-time, while Feb 2025 came in at 59% on-time — a 33-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to BNA route, the combination of a 82.3% on-time rate, 69.6-minute average delay, 2.4% recent cancellation rate, and 35 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.