Washington to Charlotte

What the Data Says About DCA to CLT

The Washington to Charlotte corridor (DCA → CLT) covers roughly 331 miles and is served by 10 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 17,252 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 94.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 6,340 flights were recorded on this pairing — 125 cancelled (2.0%) and 5 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 10 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 17,252 total flights analyzed, the 82.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 94.6-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 86% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 62% on-time — a 24-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to CLT route, the combination of a 82.2% on-time rate, 94.6-minute average delay, 2.0% recent cancellation rate, and 10 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.