Historical on-time performance
Washington to San Diego
2,253 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on IAD–SAN arrive on time 80% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate80%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay35 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.2%of scheduled flights
based on 1,390 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesbestOn-time82%Medianon timep9030 minCancel0.2%Flights1,085
- Alaska AirlinesOn-time71%Medianon timep9055 minCancel0.3%Flights305
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline21%
- Weather13%
- Air traffic (NAS)36%
- Late aircraft29%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly IAD → SAN
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 90% on time.
- Mornings90% on time · p90 10 min · 1,413 flights
- Middays86% on time · p90 25 min · 1,158 flights
- Afternoons78% on time · p90 30 min · 210 flights
- Evenings73% on time · p90 45 min · 1,641 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 79% to 86% on time.
- Tuesdays86% on time · p90 20 min · 640 flights
- Mondays85% on time · p90 25 min · 637 flights
- Saturdays82% on time · p90 35 min · 612 flights
- Fridays81% on time · p90 30 min · 635 flights
- Wednesdays81% on time · p90 30 min · 640 flights
- Sundays80% on time · p90 35 min · 629 flights
- Thursdays79% on time · p90 25 min · 629 flights
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