Washington to Cedar Rapids/Iowa City

What the Data Says About DCA to CID

The Washington to Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor (DCA → CID) covers roughly 801 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,167 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 85.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 958 flights were recorded on this pairing — 31 cancelled (3.2%) and 5 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,167 total flights analyzed, the 85.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.9-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 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 70% on-time — a 23-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to CID route, the combination of a 85.6% on-time rate, 85.9-minute average delay, 3.2% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.