Route profile
CLE→DCA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Cleveland to Washington, 310 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 3% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,659 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
CLE → DCA arrives on time 73.7% of the time; the return trip, DCA → CLE, arrives on time 73.9% of the time.
CLE → DCA spends 30.2 minutes on the ground on a 310-mile trip: 21.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at CLE and 8.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at DCA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 96% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth run 79 minutes worse than that.
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 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where CLE to DCA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
CLE to DCA struggles most at 7 PM: 53.6% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 17.8 points behind the 71.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.2 points.
Tuesday is the day CLE to DCA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 73.7% on time where they average 83.4%, 9.7 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 7.9 points.
In February, CLE to DCA runs 18.5 points below routes of similar length, 64.1% on time to 82.6%. Against all other routes the gap is 17.4 points.
PSA Airlines’ flights on CLE to DCA arrive on time 72.8% of the time, 2.4 points below the 75.2% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 3 points.
CLE to DCA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 53.6% | routes of similar length | 71.4% | −17.8 pts | 390 here, 51,629 there |
| Weekday: Tuesday | 73.7% | routes of similar length | 83.4% | −9.7 pts | 699 here, 123,264 there |
| Month: February | 64.1% | routes of similar length | 82.6% | −18.5 pts | 326 here, 61,759 there |
| Airline: PSA Airlines | 72.8% | routes of similar length | 75.2% | −2.4 pts | 3,705 here, 41,024 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 310 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.
Why CLE → DCA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
CLE → DCA cancelled 241 of 4,659 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 19. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 71.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 27 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 241 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
173 cancellations, 71.8% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
36 cancellations, 14.9% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
31 cancellations, 12.9% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
1 cancellation, 0.4% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
241 coded cancellations were recorded on CLE → DCA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
72 min late
against a median of 7 min early
CLE → DCA has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth are 79 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 4,659 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DCA after arriving from CLE.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 19% | High risk |
| 90 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.6% | Some 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 5.17% of the time and diverts 0.19% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,409 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 72 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,659 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
CLE → DCA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 86.1% of the time, against 56.9% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 29.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 88.2% on time from 388 flights
- 6 AM: 86.1% on time from 597 flights
- 7 AM to 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 87.5% on time from 572 flights
- 10 AM: 82.4% on time from 352 flights
- 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 70.4% on time from 466 flights
- 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 63.1% on time from 506 flights
- 3 PM: 68.1% on time from 122 flights
- 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 72.2% on time from 509 flights
- 6 PM: too few flights to score
- 7 PM: 53.6% on time from 427 flights
- 8 PM: 64.0% on time from 324 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why CLE → DCA 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 CLE → DCA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on CLE → DCA, at 45.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 86.1% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 56.9%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA Airlines | 3,944 | 72.8% | 5.86% | -6 min | 12.7% |
| Republic Airways | 523 | 84.7% | 1.34% | -8 min | 4.9% |
PSA Airlines flew 88.3% of the 4,467 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 5.86% of its flights here against 1.34% for Republic Airways.
Republic Airways arrived on time 11.9 percentage points more often than PSA Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 13.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 65.9%
- Feb: 64.1%
- Mar: 70.2%
- Apr: 76.7%
- May: 73.4%
- Jun: 74.3%
- Jul: 71.8%
- Aug: 77.7%
- Sep: 80.2%
- Oct: 79.4%
- Nov: 74.0%
- Dec: 74.0%
February is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 16.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (108)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (112)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (109)
- October 2023: 82.1% from 134 flights
- November 2023: 83.6% from 128 flights
- December 2023: too few flights to score (111)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (104)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (103)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (108)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (109)
- May 2024: 87.8% from 123 flights
- June 2024: 91.6% from 121 flights
- July 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (110)
- September 2024: 83.5% from 134 flights
- October 2024: 87.3% from 142 flights
- November 2024: 85.3% from 131 flights
- December 2024: too few flights to score (118)
- January 2025: 68.4% from 128 flights
- February 2025: 54.4% from 123 flights
- March 2025: 72.1% from 135 flights
- April 2025: 79.9% from 137 flights
- May 2025: 64.0% from 142 flights
- June 2025: 58.7% from 133 flights
- July 2025: 72.6% from 134 flights
- August 2025: 76.3% from 137 flights
- September 2025: 79.3% from 137 flights
- October 2025: 68.8% from 141 flights
- November 2025: 53.8% from 137 flights
- December 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- January 2026: 57.1% from 131 flights
- February 2026: 52.5% from 126 flights
- March 2026: 51.7% from 138 flights
- April 2026: 71.6% from 137 flights
- May 2026: 69.9% from 139 flights
- June 2026: 71.1% from 133 flights
- July 2026: 61.9% from 136 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 64.6% against 73.2% in the 12 months before — declining by 8.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,659 CLE → DCA 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