OnTimeStats

Historical on-time performance

Washington to Norfolk

142 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS

Flights on DCA–ORF arrive on time 60% of the time over the last 12 months.

On-time rate60%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay90 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled4.9%of scheduled flights

based on 1,013 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).

By airline

How each carrier compares

  • PSA Airlines
    On-time60%
    Medianon time
    p9090 min
    Cancel4.9%
    Flights1,013

Why flights run late

Delay causes

  • Airline24%
  • Weather9%
  • Air traffic (NAS)11%
  • Late aircraft56%
  • Security0%

Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.

When flights don't go

Why flights were cancelled

  • Airline4%
  • Weather76%
  • Air traffic (NAS)20%
  • Security0%

Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 50 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).

Over time

On-time trend

By season

On-time rate by month

When to fly

Best time to fly DCA → ORF

All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).

Best time of day

Afternoons are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 85% on time.

  • Afternoons85% on time · p90 25 min · 124 flights · limited
  • Mornings78% on time · p90 35 min · 946 flights
  • Middays75% on time · p90 55 min · 1,170 flights
  • Evenings65% on time · p90 80 min · 635 flights
  • Overnights57% on time · p90 85 min · 769 flights

Best day of week

Saturdays are the most reliable day to fly this route — 79% on time.

  • Saturdays79% on time · p90 40 min · 440 flights
  • Tuesdays72% on time · p90 65 min · 542 flights
  • Wednesdays72% on time · p90 60 min · 543 flights
  • Mondays70% on time · p90 60 min · 541 flights
  • Thursdays70% on time · p90 55 min · 533 flights
  • Sundays69% on time · p90 55 min · 506 flights
  • Fridays65% on time · p90 60 min · 539 flights

Keep exploring

Related pages

Methodology

A flight is on time when it arrives within 15 minutes of schedule — the US DOT / BTS standard. Median and p90(the “1-in-10 bad day”) are read from the full arrival-delay distribution, never averaged across periods.

Figures cover a carrier’s own BTS-coded flights. Cells below ~200 flights are flagged as limited data. All numbers are pre-computed from public BTS On-Time Performance data.