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Route Reliability

Des Moines → Washington

DSM–DCA · 897 miles · Des Moines International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

60
A Little Dicey
WanderNerd Reliability Score
78%
Arrive within 15 minutes
9 min
Average arrival delay
5.3%
Cancelled
701
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

American Airlines is the only airline in this data on this route, arriving on time 78% of the time across 701 flights. No comparison to make.

What the data says

Morning-you made the right choice.

DSM–DCA flights departing between 6–9 AM arrived on time 86% of the time, versus 63% between 3–6 PM.

Skip Tuesday if you can.

DSM–DCA flights arrived on time 83% of the time on Thursdays. On Tuesdays: 74%.

Keep a backup plan handy.

This route was cancelled 5.3% of the time. Typical for U.S. flights is around 1–2%.

Flights on this route

The breakdown

On-time by weekday
  • Mon80%(91 flights)
  • Tue74%(95 flights)
  • Wed76%(97 flights)
  • Thu83%(98 flights)
  • Fri76%(94 flights)
  • Sat78%(89 flights)
  • Sun76%(93 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 3–6 AM—(9 flights)
  • 6–9 AM86%(317 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM—(4 flights)
  • 12–3 PM73%(188 flights)
  • 3–6 PM63%(139 flights)
On-time trend by month
80%
May

Jun 70% → May 80% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202570%56
July 202575%48
August 202581%59
September 202571%59
October 202577%62
November 202581%53
December 202576%42
January 202684%50
February 202681%52
March 202668%56
April 202685%60
May 202680%60

Keep nerding

Based on 701 historical flights, because apparently we checked. Historical flight data: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, June 2025 – May 2026. Data through May 2026. How we calculate this.