Historical on-time performance
Denver to Washington
1,476 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DEN–DCA arrive on time 79% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate79%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay45 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.7%of scheduled flights
based on 1,322 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesbestOn-time88%Medianon timep9015 minCancel0.3%Flights337
- Frontier AirlinesOn-time76%Medianon timep9055 minCancel0.8%Flights985
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline28%
- Weather6%
- Air traffic (NAS)41%
- Late aircraft26%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS).
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline44%
- Weather56%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 9 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 DEN → DCA
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 86% on time.
- Mornings86% on time · p90 20 min · 2,133 flights
- Middays74% on time · p90 50 min · 1,049 flights
- Afternoons65% on time · p90 80 min · 1,087 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 74% to 82% on time.
- Tuesdays82% on time · p90 35 min · 572 flights
- Saturdays81% on time · p90 35 min · 625 flights
- Wednesdays79% on time · p90 35 min · 573 flights
- Sundays77% on time · p90 50 min · 626 flights
- Fridays76% on time · p90 45 min · 626 flights
- Thursdays75% on time · p90 60 min · 625 flights
- Mondays74% on time · p90 65 min · 622 flights
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