Washington to Boston

What the Data Says About DCA to BOS

The Washington to Boston corridor (DCA → BOS) covers roughly 399 miles and is served by 16 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 49,133 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 82.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 18,789 flights were recorded on this pairing — 458 cancelled (2.4%) and 15 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 16 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 49,133 total flights analyzed, the 80.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 82.5-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 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while Sep 2025 came in at 61% on-time — a 26-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to BOS route, the combination of a 80.5% on-time rate, 82.5-minute average delay, 2.4% recent cancellation rate, and 16 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.