IAD Airport: 81.0% on time, worst at 9 PM

IAD right now

Live conditions where a permitted source publishes them, and the historical record where none does.

No disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Departures at this hour

91.2% leave on time

05:00–05:59 local · 976 departures on record

Typical taxi out16 min

Median arrival13 min early

Cancelled1.1%

When flights run late in this hour, most of the delay is attributed to the airline.

Historical pattern for IAD from US DOT BTS — not a live reading.

Aviation weatherVFR

44°F · wind 8 kt

Minimal operational impact. Conditions are not a notable factor for operations right now.

Updated 08:52 UTC

Forecast issued 09:00Z.

Updated 09:00 UTC

Aircraft seen now

On the field4

Airborne within 15 NM2

Departed in the last hour0

Arrived in the last hour1

Below 10,000 ft, so aircraft overflying at cruise are not counted. These are observations, not an operational status: a count is a floor, since receiver coverage varies and a movement between two samples can be missed.

Updated 09:05 UTC

Aircraft observations from ADSB.lol (opens in a new tab) (Katia Esposito and contributing feeders), under the ODbL 1.0 (opens in a new tab). Derived data.

Parking

Economy Parking $20/day$20.00/day

FlyerIntel shows live values only where a permitted source provides them. Sections without data are left empty rather than estimated.

Airport reliability

Departures from IAD, July 2023 – July 2026.

Airport Reliability Score

68/ 100Good

Better than 60% of major US airports covered by FlyerIntel (64 compared)

Calculated from 170,208 flights. How this is calculated

Departures arriving on time

81.0%

135,691 of 167,580 completed

Cancellation rate

1.31%

2,232 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-8 min

Average 5.3 min

Severe delays

7.0%

Arrived 60+ minutes late

Delay when late

77 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Departures analyzed

170,208

169,930 arrivals

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

How this airport compares to others like it, not just to itself.

Weather is still the leading cause at this airport, but a smaller share of it than 93% of 61 comparable airports; cancellations here spread across causes more evenly.

Weather accounts for 47.6% of coded cancellations at this airport, against 59.9% across every covered airport.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other airport with the same kind of figure and at least 61 in the comparison.

Why flights are cancelled at IAD

Every cancellation carries a reason code filed by the airline that operated the flight. Departures, July 2023 – July 2026.

Extreme weather accounts for 49.1% of cancelled departures from IAD — about 1 in every 155 scheduled departures. That is 10 points lower than the 59.5% recorded across every airport FlyerIntel covers.

Share of cancellations

Weather49.1%

Airline34.7%

Air traffic16.3%

Security0.0%

Of 2,232 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 155

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

1,095 cancellations, 49.1% of the total.

The airline1 in 220

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

774 cancellations, 34.7% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 469

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

363 cancellations, 16.3% of the total.

Security—

A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.

0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.

2,232 of 170,208 scheduled departures from IAD were cancelled. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

By carrier

Cancellation causes by carrier at IAD
Carrier	Cancelled	Rate	Airline	Weather	Air traffic	Security
United Airlines UA	1,072	1.02%	50%	42%	8%	0%
Republic Airways YX	556	2.20%	5%	53%	42%	0%

Shares are of each carrier’s own coded cancellations at IAD and run across the row, so they total 100%. “Rate” is cancellations as a share of that carrier’s scheduled departures here. Two carriers on the same runways in the same weather can file very different splits, so read this as what each airline reported about itself, not as a ranking of fault. Carriers below the published minimum of coded cancellations are not listed.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026 · Reason codes are each airline’s own filing, not an independent finding of fault. Shown for airports with at least 500 coded cancellations; 2,232 were recorded at IAD.

Why flights run late at IAD

Where US DOT attributed the delay minutes on departures from IAD.

Late-arriving aircraft32.8%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline32.8%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control25.0%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather9.3%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for departures from IAD. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Of the 22,940 departures from IAD that left 15 or more minutes late and have a known inbound aircraft, 51% followed a flight that landed 15 or more minutes late. The other 49% left late even though the aircraft had come in on time or early. Across the 64 covered airports that share runs from 47% to 73%, with a median of 62%; IAD’s is the 7th lowest.

The late flight is the one the same aircraft flew into IAD just before, found from the tail number in the DOT file. Airlines and hours differ from one airport to the next, so this describes the departures from IAD and does not rate the airport.

An airport is only partly the author of its own delays. Late-arriving aircraft describes the national schedule arriving here more than anything about this airfield. Air traffic control covers airspace and airport capacity, which is where a congested airport shows up; only the airline category sits squarely inside the carriers’ own operation. How differently they run it is further down this page.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What weather costs at IAD

Departures from IAD by the weather at the airport in the hour they were scheduled to leave, July 2023 – July 2026.

10.5% of scheduled departures from IAD left in an hour of bad weather. 3.3% of them were cancelled, against 1.0% in normal conditions, and 69.1% of the ones that flew arrived on time, against 82.7%. Those hours held 26% of all cancelled departures. That is about 396 more cancellations than the normal-conditions rate would give.

Cancellations were highest in snow or ice hours: 16.5% of 1,362 departures, 15.9 times the normal rate.

Airlines filed 49% of IAD’s coded cancellations under extreme weather. By the weather at the airport in the scheduled hour, 26% of cancelled departures were in bad-weather hours. A code is the airline’s stated reason and an hour’s weather is what the airport reported, so the two need not match.

By weather

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Cancellation and on-time rates at IAD by the weather at the airport in the scheduled departure hour
Weather at the airport	Departures	Cancelled	Left on time	Arrived on time	Avg. departure delay
Normal conditionsVFR with no thunderstorm, snow or ice, fog, heavy rain or high wind	138,95681.8% of all	1.0%	84.1%	82.7%	10.0 min
Any bad weatherIFR or LIFR, or a thunderstorm, snow or ice, fog, heavy rain or high wind	17,86710.5% of all	3.3%3.1 times normal	75.1%	69.1%13.6 points below normal	23.3 min
MVFRceiling 1,000 to 3,000 feet or visibility 3 to 5 miles	13,8188.1% of all	2.1%2.0 times normal	80.8%	77.0%5.7 points below normal	15.3 min
IFRceiling 500 to 999 feet or visibility 1 to under 3 miles	9,9005.8% of all	2.7%2.6 times normal	79.1%	74.0%8.7 points below normal	16.7 min
LIFRceiling under 500 feet or visibility under 1 mile	3,1171.8% of all	4.4%4.2 times normal	80.5%	74.3%8.4 points below normal	15.1 min
Thunderstorma thunderstorm reported at the airport	2,0901.2% of all	8.8%8.5 times normal	36.1%	26.9%55.8 points below normal	91.0 min
Snow or icesnow, snow grains, ice pellets, freezing rain or freezing drizzle	1,3620.8% of all	16.5%15.9 times normal	66.6%	33.1%49.6 points below normal	33.5 min
Fogfog or freezing fog reported at the airport	6090.4% of all	8.2%7.9 times normal	82.9%	77.1%5.6 points below normal	13.5 min
Heavy rainheavy rain reported at the airport	7920.5% of all	6.3%6.1 times normal	61.5%	54.9%27.8 points below normal	46.2 min
High windwind of 25 knots or more, or gusts of 30 knots or more	3,2451.9% of all	2.5%2.4 times normal	67.5%	63.4%19.3 points below normal	29.4 min
Low ceilinga broken or overcast layer under 1,000 feet	11,3726.7% of all	1.7%1.6 times normal	82.2%	77.8%4.9 points below normal	12.8 min
Low visibilityvisibility under 3 miles	6,3013.7% of all	5.4%5.2 times normal	74.8%	66.8%15.9 points below normal	22.7 min

A departure is counted in every row its hour fits, so the rows overlap and do not add up. Left on time is a departure under 15 minutes late, and arrived on time an arrival under 15 minutes late; cancelled is the share of scheduled departures. Rows with fewer than 120 departures are not scored.

This is the weather reported at IAD in the hour a flight was scheduled to leave. It leaves out the weather at the destination and on the way, weather that arrived after the scheduled time, and anything else that goes wrong in a bad hour. An hour takes the worst conditions any report in it gave. Weather was matched to 99.9% of the airport’s scheduled departures; the rest left in hours with no report, or at a scheduled time the flight records cannot place exactly. Bad-weather hours are compared with normal hours at the same airport, not with what the same flights would have done in a clear sky: they also fall more often in some seasons and at some times of day.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records and Iowa Environmental Mesonet weather reports · July 2023 – July 2026 · Where the weather comes from, and its limits. All covered airports side by side: What Weather Costs Each Airport.

Which airlines hold up in bad weather at IAD

Cancellations by airline in hours of bad weather at IAD, against the other carriers in the same months, July 2023 – July 2026.

11% of the weather-matched departures from IAD left in an hour of bad weather at the airport. 3.3% of them were cancelled. That is 3.1 times the 1.0% in normal hours. United Airlines flew 62% of those departures, so the airport’s figure here is largely United Airlines’ own, and the carriers it is compared with are the smaller ones.

Compared with the other carriers at IAD in the same months, United Airlines (2.0% cancelled against 4.0% for the others; below them in normal hours too) cancelled the fewest in bad weather and Republic Airways (5.7% cancelled against 2.9% for the others; above them in normal hours too) the most. 1 more airline is also clearly apart from the others.

Airlines in bad weather at IAD

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Cancellation rates by airline in hours of bad weather at IAD, against the other carriers in the same months and against the airline's own normal hours
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers	Normal hours
United Airlines	11,09262% of bad-weather	2.0%below the others	4.0%	0.8%others 1.4%
Alaska Airlines	5813% of bad-weather	2.3%	3.1%	0.9%others 1.0%
Delta Air Lines	1,0656% of bad-weather	2.7%	3.3%	1.3%others 1.0%
SkyWest Airlines	8585% of bad-weather	5.2%above the others	3.2%	1.3%others 1.0%
Republic Airways	2,55414% of bad-weather	5.7%above the others	2.9%	1.7%others 1.0%

Best first. The other carriers’ column applies their rate in each month to the airline’s own departures, so a stormy month is not held against it; the normal-hours column gives the same pair outside bad weather.

The 5 listed airlines flew 90% of the bad-weather departures at IAD; a carrier under 500 is not listed. The comparison does not hold the hour of the day, the destination or the aircraft fixed, and a gap counts as clear only at 2 standard errors and 0.3 points. SkyWest Airlines and Republic Airways fly for mainline airlines and are counted as carriers of their own here, though they share the airport’s gates, its de-icing and often its decisions to cancel.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records and Iowa Environmental Mesonet weather reports · July 2023 – July 2026 · Where the weather comes from, and its limits. All covered airports side by side: What Weather Costs Each Airport.

Turning aircraft around at IAD

Time on the ground between one flight and the next of the same aircraft at IAD, and what a late arrival does to the next departure, July 2023 – July 2026.

The median turn at IAD is scheduled for 72 minutes on the ground and takes 80 minutes, against 56 minutes and 63 minutes across all airports. Aircraft are given longer on the ground here than at the typical airport. The 8 minutes by which the typical turn runs over its schedule are about what it is across all airports. 15.3% of turns here began with an aircraft that landed 15 or more minutes late, below the 18.9% for all airports.

When the aircraft landed 15 or more minutes late (18,078 turns here, 60 minutes late on average), 78% of the turns were finished in no more than the scheduled ground time, against 68% across all airports. 62% of those flights left 15 or more minutes late, against 72%. After an aircraft that landed on time, 10% did (all airports 11%).

Given the turn lengths scheduled here, the network’s rates would give 75% finished in the schedule and 65% leaving late. IAD does better on both counts: more late turns are finished in the schedule and fewer late aircraft become late departures, so the turn recovers lateness here beyond what the schedule explains. 43% of its late-inbound turns had a scheduled turn of 60 to 89 minutes, against 29% across all airports.

Turns at IAD against all airports

117,851 turns, July 2023 – July 2026

Aircraft turns at IAD against all airports: scheduled and actual time on the ground and what a late inbound aircraft does
Measure	IAD	All airports	All airports, same turn lengths
Median scheduled turn	72 min	56 min	—
Median actual turn	80 min	63 min	—
Turns that began with an aircraft 15+ minutes late	15%	19%	—
Late turns finished within the schedule	78%	68%	75%
Late inbound that left 15+ minutes late	62%	72%	65%
On-time inbound that left 15+ minutes late	10%	11%	—

The last column is the network’s rate at the turn lengths scheduled at IAD, band by band from under 30 minutes to 3 to 6 hours. A turn finishes within the schedule when the aircraft spent no more time on the ground than the schedule gave it.

A turn pairs an aircraft’s landing at IAD with its next departure from it by tail number; the aircraft is never named. These 117,851 turns are 69% of the flights that left IAD in the period; the rest are an aircraft’s first flight after a long stay, flights without a usable inbound, and cancelled flights. Ground time runs from the gate. Turns under 30 minutes are kept, but most leave late even after an on-time landing. Airlines set their own turn schedules, so this describes the airlines that fly at IAD and does not rate the airport.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records · July 2023 – July 2026 · Airports side by side: Where a Late Aircraft Gets Its Time Back.

What sets IAD apart

Where IAD’s hours, months, airlines and taxi time differ most from the other airports, July 2023 – July 2026.

Flights scheduled to leave IAD at 10 PM arrive on time 78.7% of the time, 7 points better than the 71.7% for that hour at the other airports.

9 PM is where IAD falls furthest behind the rest: 62.7% of its 9 PM departures arrive on time, 8.5 points below the 71.2% for that hour elsewhere.

October treats IAD better than it treats the rest of the country: 88.3% on time against 83.2% elsewhere, 5.1 points ahead.

PSA Airlines does better out of IAD than anywhere else it flies: 82.7% on time here, 75.8% on its other departures, 6.9 points apart.

Frontier Airlines’ departures from IAD arrive on time 65.6% of the time, 6.2 points worse than the 71.8% the same airline manages at its other airports.

Departing aircraft spend 21.1 minutes on average between pushback and takeoff at IAD, 2.4 minutes more than the 18.7 minutes at the other airports.

IAD against the other airports

July 2023 – July 2026

Where IAD differs most from the other covered airports, with the flights behind each figure
Measure	IAD	Elsewhere	Gap	Flights behind it
Hour: 10 PM departures	78.7%	71.7%	+7.0 pts	17,472 here, 462,328 elsewhere
Hour: 9 PM departures	62.7%	71.2%	−8.5 pts	236 here, 684,075 elsewhere
Month: October	88.3%	83.2%	+5.1 pts	13,972 here, 1,478,933 elsewhere
Airline: PSA Airlines	82.7%	75.8%	+6.9 pts	4,161 here, 686,882 elsewhere
Airline: Frontier Airlines	65.6%	71.8%	−6.2 pts	2,483 here, 612,478 elsewhere
Taxi-out: Departures	21.1 min	18.7 min	+2.4 min	168,120 here, 17,461,989 elsewhere

"Elsewhere" is every other covered airport together, taken from the same aggregates as this page with IAD’s own flights removed (for airlines, that airline’s flights from all its other airports). Hours, months and airlines appear only where both sides have at least 120 completed flights (airlines 500) and the gap is at least 2 points and 2 standard errors; only the largest gap in each direction is shown. The taxi figure is weighted by departures and has no error estimate, so it appears from 2 minutes.

Best time to fly from IAD

On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time: each weekday and hour, and averaged over the week.

Flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.0% of the time, against 72.1% for 6–9 PM departures — a gap of 15.9 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time.

Thursday 6–7 AM was the most reliable slot at IAD (91.8% on time, 1,438 flights) and Sunday 7–8 PM the least (68.6%, 720 flights).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 6.8 points from the airport-wide rate, weekday averages 1.3 points.

On-time arrival rate at IAD by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM
10 PM–11 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

65–69
70–74
75–79
80–84
85–89
90–94
95–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
Most reliable slot
Least reliable slot

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

Best and worst slots are named only among slots with 500+ flights, and only when the gap is larger than sampling error. Departures after 11 PM (6 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday at IAD. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	90.4% on time147 flights	103 flights, too few to score	101 flights, too few to score	94.6% on time149 flights	88.3% on time156 flights	88.9% on time164 flights	90.9% on time156 flights
6 AM–7 AM	88.9% on time1,446 flights	89.8% on time1,377 flights	90.2% on time1,363 flights	91.8% on time1,438 flights	88.8% on time1,435 flights	85.7% on time1,445 flights	89.5% on time1,431 flights
7 AM–8 AM	86.7% on time761 flights	85.7% on time784 flights	85.9% on time772 flights	86.1% on time752 flights	80.5% on time753 flights	82.7% on time720 flights	84.8% on time724 flights
8 AM–9 AM	87.6% on time4,915 flights	89.4% on time4,517 flights	88.6% on time4,500 flights	87.7% on time4,871 flights	88.2% on time4,916 flights	87.1% on time4,463 flights	87.7% on time4,717 flights
9 AM–10 AM	86.0% on time1,132 flights	89.6% on time997 flights	90.0% on time1,067 flights	88.7% on time1,155 flights	88.1% on time1,122 flights	84.1% on time1,068 flights	87.1% on time1,147 flights
10 AM–11 AM	89.3% on time406 flights	88.4% on time384 flights	88.4% on time363 flights	89.5% on time404 flights	86.9% on time409 flights	87.4% on time315 flights	86.7% on time399 flights
11 AM–12 PM	86.4% on time237 flights	85.9% on time235 flights	85.1% on time223 flights	85.1% on time268 flights	84.8% on time234 flights	86.3% on time177 flights	87.3% on time245 flights
12 PM–1 PM	84.4% on time3,511 flights	86.3% on time3,452 flights	86.9% on time3,474 flights	84.6% on time3,510 flights	82.8% on time3,492 flights	85.6% on time3,075 flights	83.5% on time3,433 flights
1 PM–2 PM	83.9% on time1,010 flights	86.5% on time954 flights	86.2% on time923 flights	83.0% on time1,002 flights	82.7% on time992 flights	85.2% on time905 flights	81.3% on time917 flights
2 PM–3 PM	76.5% on time333 flights	80.8% on time290 flights	81.8% on time287 flights	76.4% on time325 flights	79.6% on time337 flights	80.5% on time316 flights	79.9% on time316 flights
3 PM–4 PM	74.8% on time654 flights	74.1% on time616 flights	73.5% on time623 flights	74.9% on time600 flights	72.1% on time639 flights	80.3% on time518 flights	74.6% on time562 flights
4 PM–5 PM	79.3% on time557 flights	78.0% on time455 flights	78.5% on time482 flights	71.0% on time575 flights	73.5% on time567 flights	77.3% on time479 flights	74.6% on time579 flights
5 PM–6 PM	73.0% on time5,552 flights	74.7% on time5,479 flights	74.4% on time5,467 flights	70.5% on time5,539 flights	70.8% on time5,505 flights	71.7% on time4,850 flights	69.7% on time5,375 flights
6 PM–7 PM	71.0% on time996 flights	75.2% on time864 flights	72.5% on time871 flights	70.0% on time927 flights	70.0% on time987 flights	70.3% on time813 flights	68.7% on time959 flights
7 PM–8 PM	76.7% on time660 flights	83.0% on time453 flights	79.8% on time489 flights	71.6% on time710 flights	75.6% on time692 flights	73.5% on time415 flights	68.6% on time720 flights
8 PM–9 PM	69.2% on time300 flights	69.5% on time204 flights	74.7% on time239 flights	70.1% on time340 flights	70.2% on time322 flights	67.1% on time238 flights	67.0% on time343 flights
9 PM–10 PM	46 flights, too few to score	8 flights, too few to score	8 flights, too few to score	37 flights, too few to score	48 flights, too few to score	35 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score
10 PM–11 PM	78.1% on time2,534 flights	84.2% on time2,365 flights	79.0% on time2,495 flights	77.7% on time2,613 flights	77.1% on time2,623 flights	80.0% on time2,548 flights	75.4% on time2,652 flights

By departure window

All days combined

5–9 AM88.0%

9 AM–12 PM87.5%

12–3 PM84.3%

3–6 PM72.7%

6–9 PM72.1%

9 PM–5 AM78.5%

By departure hour

All days combined

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.

What parking will cost

Estimated from IAD's own published rates.

Where you would park

Arriving

Returning

Estimated cost

Choose a facility and both dates to see an estimate.

Rates as published by the airport, last read 2026-08-31. Confirm before you travel.

Source: Washington Dulles International Airport · An estimate from published standard rates. Airports vary surcharges, oversize vehicle fees and event pricing, so confirm the price with the airport before you travel.

International arrivals

How long passport control normally takes here, hour by hour and hall by hall. This is the arrivals queue, not departure security — and it is history, not a live wait.

A US passport clears International A, IAD’s busiest hall, in a typical 8 min; everyone else in the same terminal typically takes 13 min, and 39 min on a busy day. These are separate halls, separately staffed — CBP’s single combined figure of 11 min is a number few arrivals actually experience.

Terminal by terminal, across the day

Terminal by terminal, across the day
Terminal	US passports	US busy day	Other passports	Other busy day	Global Entry
International A	8 min	22 min	13 min	39 min	16.0% of arrivals
Satellite C	9 min	24 min	13 min	37 min	17.8% of arrivals

Which terminal you land at

Your terminal is set by the airline you arrive on, not by you. This is here so you can read the hall you will actually land in.

US passports — International A

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

US citizens and lawful permanent residents, who use the US-passport lanes.

All other passports — International A

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Every other arriving passenger, including visa and visa-waiver travelers.

Hour by hour — International A

Hour by hour — International A
Cleared in hour	US passports	US busy day	Other passports	Other busy day	Booths open
12 AM–1 AM	7 min	18 min	10 min	25 min	6
1 AM–2 AM	4 min	15 min	6 min	18 min	6
2 AM–3 AM	4 min	16 min	6 min	20 min	5
3 AM–4 AM	8 min	20 min	12 min	26 min	5
4 AM–5 AM	7 min	24 min	12 min	33 min	6
5 AM–6 AM	11 min	28 min	20 min	48 min	8
6 AM–7 AM	6 min	23 min	13 min	45 min	8
7 AM–8 AM	8 min	25 min	15 min	36 min	12
8 AM–9 AM	8 min	23 min	16 min	40 min	14
9 AM–10 AM	6 min	23 min	16 min	45 min	11
10 AM–11 AM	3 min	16 min	8 min	37 min	10
11 AM–12 PM	4 min	18 min	10 min	33 min	9
12 PM–1 PM	9 min	31 min	13 min	40 min	9
1 PM–2 PM	11 min	21 min	15 min	34 min	14
2 PM–3 PM	12 min	22 min	17 min	42 min	17
3 PM–4 PM	12 min	24 min	29 min	56 min	19
4 PM–5 PM	9 min	21 min	24 min	51 min	19
5 PM–6 PM	5 min	18 min	10 min	32 min	15
6 PM–7 PM	9 min	25 min	12 min	35 min	12
7 PM–8 PM	11 min	25 min	17 min	43 min	13
8 PM–9 PM	6 min	20 min	12 min	38 min	13
9 PM–10 PM	3 min	15 min	5 min	22 min	11
10 PM–11 PM	7 min	19 min	9 min	25 min	7
11 PM–12 AM	13 min	25 min	17 min	31 min	6

US passports: clearing in the 11 PM–12 AM hour typically takes 13 min, against 3 min in the 9 PM–10 PM hour — 11 min between the slowest and fastest of 24 measured hours.

All other passports: clearing in the 3 PM–4 PM hour typically takes 29 min, against 5 min in the 9 PM–10 PM hour — 24 min between the slowest and fastest of 24 measured hours.

The hour is when CBP processed the passenger, not when the aircraft landed — allow for the walk from the gate. Hours with fewer than 120 days of records are not listed rather than shown as an estimate, which is why a terminal’s quietest hours are usually absent. “Busy day” is the 90th percentile: one arrival in ten is worse than that. Booths are how many CBP had open, and they follow the queue rather than prevent it — the busiest hours are staffed hardest and are still the slowest.

Source: US Customs and Border Protection · 2024-08-28 to 2026-10-16 · These are CBP passport control waits for arriving international passengers — a different queue from TSA departure screening. CBP publishes them about two days in arrears, so every figure here describes what has been typical over 2024-08-28 to 2026-10-16, and none of it is a live queue or a forecast for your flight. US and non-US passengers are reported separately by CBP and are kept separate here, because they are separate halls. FlyerIntel publishes a terminal or an hour only where CBP filed at least 120 hourly records for it, and an hour-by-hour breakdown only where at least 6 hours clear that floor.

What to expect at IAD

How busy the airport is through the day, from scheduled departure volume.

Departures a day

151

Average across the analysis period

Busiest hour

5 PM

About 34 departures

Typical taxi-out

21.1 min

Pushback to wheels-up, on departure

Typical taxi-in

7.5 min

Touchdown to gate, on arrival

Scheduled departures by hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

The busiest hour is 5 PM, with about 34 departures a day, against roughly 0 at 9 PM.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Taxi-out runs from gate to wheels-up, averaged over departures and weighted by hour. Taxi-in runs from touchdown to gate.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon81.0%

Tue83.2%

Wed82.4%

Thu80.4%

Fri79.8%

Sat80.8%

Sun79.3%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 3.9 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 16.6 percentage points.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Airlines at IAD

Departure performance by operating carrier. Regional flights are reported by the carrier that operated them, not by the mainline brand.

Airlines at IAD
Carrier	Departures	On time	Cancelled	Median delay
United Airlines UA	105,607	81.1%	1.02%	-7 min
Republic Airways YX	25,289	83.7%	2.20%	-9 min
Delta Air Lines DL	9,651	82.6%	1.45%	-11 min
SkyWest Airlines OO	8,129	79.9%	1.73%	-8 min
Alaska Airlines AS	5,609	75.2%	1.05%	-4 min
PSA Airlines OH	4,253	82.7%	2.12%	-12 min
Southwest Airlines WN	3,805	78.9%	0.55%	-4 min
American Airlines AA	3,113	77.1%	2.09%	-8 min
Frontier Airlines F9	2,557	65.6%	2.74%	-2 min
Allegiant Air G4	1,392	70.6%	1.01%	-6 min
Endeavor Air 9E	641	87.1%	0.47%	-16 min

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 500 departures are not listed.

Routes from IAD

Ranked by FlyerIntel Route Reliability Score.

Most reliable

DENDenver72 ATLAtlanta62

Least reliable

ATLAtlanta62 DENDenver72

Busiest routes

Busiest routes from IAD
Destination	Flights	On time	Score
IAD → ATL Atlanta	11,323	80.0%	62
IAD → DEN Denver	10,260	81.5%	72

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Only routes with at least 10,000 flights are ranked.

See all 4 routes to and from IAD →

Reliability over time

On-time arrival rate for departures, by month.

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), departures from IAD arrived on time 81.4% of the time, against 79.8% in the 12 months before — improving by 1.6 percentage points.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Data and sources

Historical statistics

Every historical figure on this page is calculated by FlyerIntel from US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time performance records covering July 2023 – July 2026, comprising 170,208 departures from IAD. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule.

Full methodology · All data sources

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

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Washington Dulles International Airport on-time performance, from FlyerIntel

Updates on its own as new data comes in — paste this once, nothing to maintain.

<a href="https://flyerintel.com/airports/iad/"><img src="https://flyerintel.com/badge/airport/iad/" alt="Washington Dulles International Airport on-time performance, from FlyerIntel"></a>

Live conditions

Aviation weather comes from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center. Operational events come from the FAA where available. FlyerIntel shows the age of every live value and does not display data it cannot currently retrieve.

See something wrong? Report it

Latest observation for IAD: METAR KIAD 180852Z 34008KT 10SM CLR 07/M01 A3050 RMK AO2 SLP328 T00671011 51009 $ (issued 08:52 UTC).