Route profile
CMH→DCA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Columbus to Washington, 323 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 26% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,110 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
CMH → DCA arrives on time 76.8% of the time; the return trip, DCA → CMH, arrives on time 80.0% of the time, a 3.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
CMH → DCA spends 27.0 minutes on the ground on a 323-mile trip: 18.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at CMH and 8.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at DCA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where CMH to DCA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
CMH to DCA struggles most at 2 PM: 59.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 18.5 points behind the 77.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 15.6 points.
Wednesday is the day CMH to DCA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 77.2% on time where they average 82.7%, 5.5 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 3.6 points.
In February, CMH to DCA runs 14.2 points below routes of similar length, 68.3% on time to 82.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 13.2 points.
PSA Airlines’ flights on CMH to DCA arrive on time 66.5% of the time, 8.5 points below the 75.0% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
Envoy Air does better on CMH to DCA than on its routes of similar length: 83.7% on time here, 77.9% there, 5.8 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 4.6 points.
CMH to DCA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 59.0% | routes of similar length | 77.5% | −18.5 pts | 378 here, 57,249 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 77.2% | routes of similar length | 82.7% | −5.5 pts | 904 here, 151,503 there |
| Month: February | 68.3% | routes of similar length | 82.5% | −14.2 pts | 445 here, 75,462 there |
| Airline: PSA Airlines | 66.5% | routes of similar length | 75.0% | −8.5 pts | 938 here, 48,680 there |
| Airline: Envoy Air | 83.7% | routes of similar length | 77.9% | +5.8 pts | 1,236 here, 27,689 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 323 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.
CMH to DCA in context
This route against CMH and DCA as a whole, against similar routes from CMH, and against its own first year, July 2023 – July 2026.
Leaving CMH, CMH to DCA is on time 76.8% of the time, 5.6 points worse than the airport’s other departures at CMH (82.4%, from 125,649 flights).
CMH to DCA cancels 2.59% of its scheduled flights, 1.25 points above the 1.34% on 6 other routes from CMH of similar length (within 15% of 323 miles).
CMH to DCA arrived on time 69.7% of the time in its latest twelve months (August 2025 to July 2026), 15.6 points below the 85.3% of its first twelve (July 2023 to June 2024).
Cancellations rose from 1.16% of scheduled flights (22 of 1,901) in the first twelve months to 3.02% (62 of 2,051) in the latest twelve.
Of the 5,815 flights scheduled in hours with at least 120 flights, 6 AM is the busiest hour with 985 (16.9%), 87.9% of them on time, and 11 AM the quietest with 146 (2.5%), 89.0% of them on time.
Airport comparisons take this route’s flights out of the airport total. Length means within 15% of this route’s distance, with at least 3 other routes from the same origin. On-time gaps are stated at 2 points and 2 standard errors, cancellation gaps at 0.5 points and 2 standard errors, and every group needs 750 flights. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why CMH → DCA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
CMH → DCA cancelled 158 of 6,110 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 39. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 67.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 58 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 158 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.
106 cancellations, 67.1% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
33 cancellations, 20.9% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
19 cancellations, 12.0% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
158 coded cancellations were recorded on CMH → DCA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
48 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 6,110 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DCA after arriving from CMH.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.5% | 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 2.59% of the time and diverts 0.23% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 5,938 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 48 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,110 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
CMH → DCA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.2% of the time, against 59.3% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 27.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 87.9% on time from 985 flights
- 7 AM to 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 86.0% on time from 241 flights
- 10 AM: 82.2% on time from 360 flights
- 11 AM: 89.0% on time from 146 flights
- 12 PM: 79.2% on time from 946 flights
- 1 PM: 83.6% on time from 601 flights
- 2 PM: 59.0% on time from 390 flights
- 3 PM: 72.6% on time from 703 flights
- 4 PM: 70.3% on time from 239 flights
- 5 PM: 70.7% on time from 703 flights
- 6 PM: 62.1% on time from 297 flights
- 7 PM: 62.1% on time from 204 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why CMH → DCA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s 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 CMH → DCA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 2,768 | 77.4% | 2.31% | -8 min | 7.4% |
| Envoy Air | 1,253 | 83.7% | 1.28% | -6 min | 4.2% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,083 | 76.2% | 1.02% | -3 min | 7.8% |
| PSA Airlines | 1,006 | 66.5% | 6.66% | -3 min | 14.8% |
Republic Airways flew 45.3% of the 6,110 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 6.66% of its flights here against 1.02% for Southwest Airlines.
Envoy Air arrived on time 17.2 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 Friday the least, a gap of 6.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 75.3%
- Feb: 68.3%
- Mar: 76.7%
- Apr: 75.6%
- May: 71.3%
- Jun: 74.8%
- Jul: 69.9%
- Aug: 83.0%
- Sep: 85.7%
- Oct: 87.5%
- Nov: 79.8%
- Dec: 73.7%
February is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 19.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 77.2% from 169 flights
- August 2023: 88.0% from 171 flights
- September 2023: 84.0% from 164 flights
- October 2023: 87.4% from 175 flights
- November 2023: 91.3% from 160 flights
- December 2023: 87.2% from 141 flights
- January 2024: 85.0% from 161 flights
- February 2024: 88.7% from 151 flights
- March 2024: 89.7% from 146 flights
- April 2024: 85.6% from 147 flights
- May 2024: 77.7% from 159 flights
- June 2024: 82.8% from 157 flights
- July 2024: 73.8% from 147 flights
- August 2024: 82.5% from 145 flights
- September 2024: 91.1% from 169 flights
- October 2024: 91.9% from 174 flights
- November 2024: 90.4% from 167 flights
- December 2024: 80.5% from 151 flights
- January 2025: 78.7% from 166 flights
- February 2025: 58.0% from 156 flights
- March 2025: 77.3% from 179 flights
- April 2025: 68.0% from 171 flights
- May 2025: 64.0% from 176 flights
- June 2025: 65.0% from 177 flights
- July 2025: 61.6% from 180 flights
- August 2025: 78.7% from 180 flights
- September 2025: 81.9% from 171 flights
- October 2025: 83.2% from 173 flights
- November 2025: 57.5% from 166 flights
- December 2025: 53.5% from 149 flights
- January 2026: 62.1% from 168 flights
- February 2026: 57.7% from 163 flights
- March 2026: 65.3% from 182 flights
- April 2026: 74.6% from 169 flights
- May 2026: 72.7% from 178 flights
- June 2026: 76.8% from 176 flights
- July 2026: 67.1% from 176 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 69.6% against 75.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,110 CMH → 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