Washington to West Palm Beach/Palm Beach

What the Data Says About DCA to PBI

The Washington to West Palm Beach/Palm Beach corridor (DCA → PBI) covers roughly 857 miles and is served by 16 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 8,447 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 78.1% on-time rate with an average delay of 75.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,408 flights were recorded on this pairing — 48 cancelled (1.4%) and 5 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 8,447 total flights analyzed, the 78.1% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 75.2-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 88% on-time, while May 2025 came in at 65% on-time — a 23-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to PBI route, the combination of a 78.1% on-time rate, 75.2-minute average delay, 1.4% recent cancellation rate, and 16 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.