Indianapolis to Washington

What the Data Says About IND to DCA

The Indianapolis to Washington corridor (IND → DCA) covers roughly 500 miles and is served by 17 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,545 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 85.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 68.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,038 flights were recorded on this pairing — 104 cancelled (2.6%) and 14 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 17 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,545 total flights analyzed, the 85.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 68.8-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, Mar 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 63% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IND to DCA route, the combination of a 85.2% on-time rate, 68.8-minute average delay, 2.6% recent cancellation rate, and 17 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.