Wilmington to Washington

What the Data Says About ILM to DCA

The Wilmington to Washington corridor (ILM → DCA) covers roughly 319 miles and is served by 10 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 3,655 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 78.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 93.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,661 flights were recorded on this pairing — 75 cancelled (4.5%) and 3 diverted (0.2%). 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 3,655 total flights analyzed, the 78.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 93.2-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, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 90% on-time, while Dec 2024 came in at 56% on-time — a 34-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ILM to DCA route, the combination of a 78.5% on-time rate, 93.2-minute average delay, 4.5% recent cancellation rate, and 10 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.