Washington to Manchester

What the Data Says About DCA to MHT

The Washington to Manchester corridor (DCA → MHT) covers roughly 406 miles and is served by 7 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,513 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 73.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,505 flights were recorded on this pairing — 120 cancelled (4.8%) and 3 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 7 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,513 total flights analyzed, the 77.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 73.0-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 90% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 62% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to MHT route, the combination of a 77.9% on-time rate, 73.0-minute average delay, 4.8% recent cancellation rate, and 7 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.