Washington to Cincinnati

What the Data Says About DCA to CVG

The Washington to Cincinnati corridor (DCA → CVG) covers roughly 411 miles and is served by 24 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 8,580 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 78.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,897 flights were recorded on this pairing — 70 cancelled (2.4%) and 3 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 24 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 8,580 total flights analyzed, the 80.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 78.9-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Feb 2025 came in at 47% on-time — a 41-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to CVG route, the combination of a 80.5% on-time rate, 78.9-minute average delay, 2.4% recent cancellation rate, and 24 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.