Route profile
BWI→IND
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Baltimore to Indianapolis, 516 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 52% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,739 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
BWI → IND arrives on time 75.9% of the time; the return trip, IND → BWI, arrives on time 84.1% of the time, an 8.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
BWI → IND spends 19.9 minutes on the ground on a 516-mile trip: 14.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at BWI and 5.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at IND.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 100% of 5,368 comparable routes.
77.5% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 77.5% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where BWI to IND differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
BWI to IND is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 AM: 94.6% arrive on time, 6.4 points ahead of the 88.2% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
BWI to IND struggles most at 5 PM: 65.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 6.1 points behind the 71.2% on routes of similar length at the same hour.
Saturday is the day BWI to IND slips furthest against routes of similar length, 73.0% on time where they average 80.1%, 7.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.1 points.
In July, BWI to IND runs 8.8 points below routes of similar length, 61.3% on time to 70.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 8.4 points.
February is kinder to BWI to IND than to routes of similar length: 87.4% on time against 81.9%, 5.5 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6 points.
BWI to IND against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 94.6% | routes of similar length | 88.2% | +6.4 pts | 147 here, 109,503 there |
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 65.1% | routes of similar length | 71.2% | −6.1 pts | 235 here, 113,101 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 73.0% | routes of similar length | 80.1% | −7.1 pts | 397 here, 188,792 there |
| Month: July | 61.3% | routes of similar length | 70.1% | −8.8 pts | 455 here, 172,998 there |
| Month: February | 87.4% | routes of similar length | 81.9% | +5.5 pts | 246 here, 108,954 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 516 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
41 min late
against a median of 2 min early
Percentiles over 3,739 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at IND after arriving from BWI.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 44% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.4% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.4% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 0.99% of the time and diverts 0.03% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,701 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 41 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,739 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
BWI → IND flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.8% of the time, against 63.9% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 26.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 92.4% on time from 173 flights
- 7 AM: 94.6% on time from 147 flights
- 8 AM: 87.7% on time from 271 flights
- 9 AM: 87.9% on time from 283 flights
- 10 AM: 89.6% on time from 203 flights
- 11 AM: 80.6% on time from 144 flights
- 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 80.2% on time from 258 flights
- 2 PM: 77.5% on time from 219 flights
- 3 PM: 75.8% on time from 334 flights
- 4 PM: 66.5% on time from 190 flights
- 5 PM: 65.1% on time from 240 flights
- 6 PM: 66.3% on time from 210 flights
- 7 PM: too few flights to score
- 8 PM: 68.3% on time from 266 flights
- 9 PM: 64.3% on time from 390 flights
- 10 PM: 63.3% on time from 299 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why BWI → IND runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for BWI → IND. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on BWI → IND, at 48.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.8% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 63.9%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 3,739 | 75.9% | 0.99% | -2 min | 6.6% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.2%
- Feb: 87.4%
- Mar: 74.4%
- Apr: 73.6%
- May: 71.1%
- Jun: 70.7%
- Jul: 61.3%
- Aug: 76.5%
- Sep: 83.3%
- Oct: 82.6%
- Nov: 83.9%
- Dec: 75.9%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 26.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.5% against 77.5% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,739 BWI → IND flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed