Washington to Raleigh/Durham

What the Data Says About DCA to RDU

The Washington to Raleigh/Durham corridor (DCA → RDU) covers roughly 227 miles and is served by 31 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 12,310 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 76.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,696 flights were recorded on this pairing — 140 cancelled (3.0%) and 6 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 31 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 12,310 total flights analyzed, the 81.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 76.8-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 92% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 65% on-time — a 26-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DCA to RDU route, the combination of a 81.4% on-time rate, 76.8-minute average delay, 3.0% recent cancellation rate, and 31 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.