Historical on-time performance
Washington to Los Angeles
2,311 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DCA–LAX arrive on time 73% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate73%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay50 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled1.2%of scheduled flights
based on 1,343 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Alaska AirlinesOn-time68%Medianon timep9050 minCancel1.3%Flights307
- Delta Air LinesOn-time66%Medianon timep9075 minCancel1.6%Flights306
- American AirlinesbestOn-time78%Medianon timep9045 minCancel1.0%Flights730
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline36%
- Weather6%
- Air traffic (NAS)27%
- Late aircraft32%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Airline.
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly DCA → LAX
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
On-time rates are fairly even by time of day on this route — ranging from 74% to 77% on time.
- Mornings77% on time · p90 30 min · 2,187 flights
- Evenings77% on time · p90 50 min · 2,005 flights
- Afternoons74% on time · p90 35 min · 182 flights · limited
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 74% to 80% on time.
- Saturdays80% on time · p90 45 min · 624 flights
- Thursdays79% on time · p90 35 min · 617 flights
- Mondays78% on time · p90 35 min · 627 flights
- Tuesdays77% on time · p90 30 min · 628 flights
- Fridays76% on time · p90 40 min · 624 flights
- Sundays75% on time · p90 40 min · 627 flights
- Wednesdays74% on time · p90 40 min · 627 flights
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