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Route Reliability

Raleigh–Durham → Washington

RDU–DCA · 227 miles · Raleigh–Durham International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

45
Bring Snacks
WanderNerd Reliability Score
63%
Arrive within 15 minutes
23 min
Average arrival delay
4.8%
Cancelled
2,969
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

Who flies it best

Ranked by on-time arrivals. Historical results, not predictions.

  1. 1.American Airlines64%1,970 flights
  2. 2.Delta Air Lines60%998 flights

Not enough history to rank: Frontier Airlines (1 flights). We rank airlines only after 100 flights on the route.

What the data says

Morning flights do better here.

RDU–DCA flights departing between 3–6 AM arrived on time 95% of the time, versus 37% between 9 PM–12 AM.

Thursdays have been rough.

RDU–DCA flights arrived on time 81% of the time on Saturdays and just 57% on Thursdays. That gap is worth planning around.

American Airlines has a slight edge here.

American Airlines arrived on time 64% of the time on this route; Delta Air Lines managed 60%.

Keep a backup plan handy.

This route was cancelled 4.8% of the time. Typical for U.S. flights is around 1–2%.

Best historical flights

Ranked by on-time arrivals, minimum 100 flights. Past performance, not a promise.

Top flights by on-time rate

More flights on this route

The breakdown

On-time by weekday
  • Mon62%(429 flights)
  • Tue65%(437 flights)
  • Wed60%(430 flights)
  • Thu57%(426 flights)
  • Fri57%(420 flights)
  • Sat81%(278 flights)
  • Sun65%(404 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 3–6 AM95%(37 flights)
  • 6–9 AM83%(641 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM82%(535 flights)
  • 12–3 PM59%(350 flights)
  • 3–6 PM46%(684 flights)
  • 6–9 PM44%(536 flights)
  • 9 PM–12 AM37%(41 flights)
On-time trend by month
62%
May

Jun 64% → May 62% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202564%211
July 202563%200
August 202568%245
September 202573%254
October 202551%263
November 202558%231
December 202562%218
January 202665%228
February 202661%227
March 202663%254
April 202665%248
May 202662%245

Same trip, other airports

Keep nerding

Based on 2,969 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.