Route profile
DCA→BOS
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Washington to Boston, 399 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 11% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 28,569 flights. How this is calculated
DCA → BOS arrives on time 76.0% of the time; the return trip, BOS → DCA, arrives on time 77.3% of the time.
DCA → BOS spends 29.1 minutes on the ground on a 399-mile trip: 20.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DCA and 8.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at BOS.
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 92% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 8 min early, but the worst tenth run 73 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.
Why DCA → BOS flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DCA → BOS cancelled 845 of 28,569 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 34. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 46.2% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 73 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 845 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.
390 cancellations, 46.2% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
292 cancellations, 34.6% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
163 cancellations, 19.3% 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.
845 coded cancellations were recorded on DCA → BOS; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
65 min late
against a median of 8 min early
DCA → BOS has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 8 min early, but the worst tenth are 73 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 28,569 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BOS after arriving from DCA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 35% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 18% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.8% | 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 2.96% of the time and diverts 0.08% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 27,701 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 65 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 28,569 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DCA → BOS flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.6% of the time, against 63.5% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 26.1 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (DCA).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 10.4 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 4.0 points.
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
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| 10 PM–11 PM |
On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 50–59
- 60–69
- 70–79
- 80–89
- 90–99
- Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
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.
No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 6 AM (3 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 91.3% on time431 flights | 94.4% on time427 flights | 93.1% on time432 flights | 90.9% on time431 flights | 88.8% on time427 flights | 57 flights, too few to score | 87 flights, too few to score |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 89.2% on time238 flights | 93.1% on time238 flights | 93.0% on time231 flights | 90.4% on time237 flights | 91.7% on time233 flights | 89.1% on time302 flights | 91.6% on time279 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 83.1% on time330 flights | 86.0% on time328 flights | 87.9% on time311 flights | 86.3% on time319 flights | 85.4% on time336 flights | 89.2% on time166 flights | 86.5% on time354 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 81.9% on time168 flights | 89.4% on time161 flights | 89.0% on time156 flights | 88.1% on time162 flights | 83.0% on time166 flights | 83.1% on time167 flights | 87.9% on time143 flights |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 81.4% on time318 flights | 83.8% on time309 flights | 88.0% on time311 flights | 84.4% on time320 flights | 81.4% on time311 flights | 90.2% on time227 flights | 83.9% on time337 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 82.1% on time311 flights | 88.9% on time292 flights | 90.4% on time295 flights | 82.1% on time302 flights | 77.0% on time304 flights | 89.0% on time137 flights | 83.8% on time300 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 78.4% on time278 flights | 82.4% on time273 flights | 82.0% on time272 flights | 76.9% on time279 flights | 75.4% on time277 flights | 87.9% on time151 flights | 79.4% on time271 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 70.2% on time275 flights | 79.0% on time269 flights | 73.3% on time275 flights | 62.6% on time274 flights | 64.3% on time230 flights | 103 flights, too few to score | 63.6% on time231 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 68.8% on time236 flights | 74.9% on time240 flights | 72.5% on time236 flights | 69.3% on time233 flights | 67.0% on time234 flights | 80.5% on time157 flights | 75.0% on time249 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 60.7% on time284 flights | 70.0% on time266 flights | 68.4% on time275 flights | 58.6% on time281 flights | 56.0% on time280 flights | 71.4% on time193 flights | 61.6% on time282 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 58.8% on time204 flights | 72.8% on time199 flights | 70.2% on time203 flights | 60.2% on time200 flights | 52.0% on time206 flights | 84 flights, too few to score | 62.6% on time196 flights |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 62.7% on time311 flights | 68.9% on time310 flights | 66.9% on time300 flights | 59.5% on time304 flights | 57.7% on time308 flights | 79.2% on time186 flights | 54.7% on time311 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 64.4% on time393 flights | 67.6% on time386 flights | 69.9% on time400 flights | 61.0% on time386 flights | 58.4% on time387 flights | 79.3% on time235 flights | 53.4% on time394 flights |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 67.6% on time202 flights | 81.8% on time194 flights | 69.8% on time190 flights | 68.4% on time195 flights | 61.0% on time205 flights | 95 flights, too few to score | 65.1% on time204 flights |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 71.3% on time146 flights | 72.3% on time139 flights | 72.6% on time140 flights | 58.5% on time141 flights | 61.9% on time144 flights | 104 flights, too few to score | 62.7% on time151 flights |
| 9 PM–10 PM | 49 flights, too few to score | 41 flights, too few to score | 38 flights, too few to score | 46 flights, too few to score | 48 flights, too few to score | 17 flights, too few to score | 44 flights, too few to score |
| 10 PM–11 PM | 74.5% on time292 flights | 73.3% on time291 flights | 72.8% on time293 flights | 65.8% on time286 flights | 65.3% on time288 flights | 97 flights, too few to score | 66.4% on time288 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 91.9% on time from 2,292 flights
- 7 AM: 91.1% on time from 1,758 flights
- 8 AM: 86.1% on time from 2,144 flights
- 9 AM: 86.0% on time from 1,123 flights
- 10 AM: 84.5% on time from 2,133 flights
- 11 AM: 84.4% on time from 1,941 flights
- 12 PM: 79.8% on time from 1,801 flights
- 1 PM: 69.8% on time from 1,657 flights
- 2 PM: 72.2% on time from 1,585 flights
- 3 PM: 63.4% on time from 1,861 flights
- 4 PM: 63.9% on time from 1,292 flights
- 5 PM: 63.3% on time from 2,030 flights
- 6 PM: 64.0% on time from 2,581 flights
- 7 PM: 69.9% on time from 1,285 flights
- 8 PM: 67.4% on time from 965 flights
- 9 PM: 71.0% on time from 283 flights
- 10 PM: 70.8% on time from 1,835 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DCA → BOS runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
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 DCA → BOS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DCA → BOS, 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 89.6% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 63.5%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of DCA to BOS: 4.2 times the normal rate at DCA and 3.9 times at BOS. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: DCA 9.3% against 2.2%, BOS 5.3% against 1.4%. Flights that did leave DCA in bad weather arrived on time 63.5% of the time, against 78.3% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | DCA | BOS |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 9.3% | 5.3% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 2.2% | 1.4% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 63.5% | 65.1% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 78.3% | 79.7% |
| Departures in bad weather | 41,449 | 60,840 |
Of the carriers on this route, American Airlines (6.4% cancelled against 9.5% for the other carriers at DCA) cancelled the fewest departures from DCA in bad weather and Republic Airways (10.7% cancelled against 9.0% for the other carriers at DCA) the most.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at DCA
All departures from DCA| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 8,236 | 6.4%below the others | 9.5% |
| JetBlue | 2,304 | 6.1%below the others | 8.8% |
| Envoy Air | 1,297 | 11.4%about level | 10.4% |
| Republic Airways | 7,801 | 10.7%above the others | 9.0% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from DCA and BOS, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from DCA on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: DCA (airlines), BOS, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.
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 | 12,001 | 82.1% | 3.21% | -11 min | 7.5% |
| JetBlue | 9,894 | 73.1% | 2.80% | -8 min | 12.9% |
| American Airlines | 6,275 | 69.1% | 2.63% | -4 min | 14.4% |
| Envoy Air | 258 | 73.9% | 6.59% | -4 min | 11.2% |
Republic Airways flew 42.2% of the 28,428 flights listed. Envoy Air cancelled 6.59% of its flights here against 2.63% for American Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 13.0 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Washington to Boston
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA→BOS this route Washington to Boston | 28,569 | 76.0% | 2.96% | -8 min | 47 |
| BWI→BOS Baltimore to Boston | 12,111 | 74.8% | 1.98% | -5 min | 54 |
BWI → BOS is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 74.8% on time, against 76.0% for DCA → BOS.
Flying to BOS from the Washington area? Compare DCA, BWI, IAD for BOS, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| B62754 JetBlue | 6:30 PM | 965 | 59.6% |
| B62354 JetBlue | 7:30 PM | 752 | 67.3% |
| B61354 JetBlue | 4:59 PM | 737 | 56.2% |
| B62254 JetBlue | 12:30 PM | 727 | 73.5% |
| B61854 JetBlue | 8:30 AM | 721 | 82.5% |
| B61254 JetBlue | 3:30 PM | 713 | 67.0% |
| B62454 JetBlue | 1:30 PM | 649 | 76.3% |
| B6654 JetBlue | 10:30 AM | 625 | 85.8% |
| B6554 JetBlue | 11:30 AM | 603 | 88.0% |
B6554 (11:30 AM) arrived on time 88.0% of the time, 31.8 points more often than B61354 (4:59 PM) at 56.2%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 12.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.0%
- Feb: 75.7%
- Mar: 77.7%
- Apr: 78.0%
- May: 71.3%
- Jun: 74.5%
- Jul: 68.7%
- Aug: 76.8%
- Sep: 70.9%
- Oct: 80.0%
- Nov: 83.6%
- Dec: 77.3%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 14.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 65.7% from 737 flights
- August 2023: 75.3% from 761 flights
- September 2023: 66.6% from 733 flights
- October 2023: 86.1% from 799 flights
- November 2023: 90.2% from 723 flights
- December 2023: 82.3% from 638 flights
- January 2024: 77.7% from 731 flights
- February 2024: 87.0% from 763 flights
- March 2024: 85.3% from 824 flights
- April 2024: 78.4% from 767 flights
- May 2024: 70.6% from 854 flights
- June 2024: 77.4% from 807 flights
- July 2024: 73.7% from 830 flights
- August 2024: 72.6% from 813 flights
- September 2024: 83.7% from 834 flights
- October 2024: 87.2% from 912 flights
- November 2024: 87.7% from 794 flights
- December 2024: 79.9% from 729 flights
- January 2025: 86.4% from 774 flights
- February 2025: 67.8% from 752 flights
- March 2025: 79.9% from 841 flights
- April 2025: 82.9% from 766 flights
- May 2025: 68.6% from 800 flights
- June 2025: 69.1% from 747 flights
- July 2025: 68.9% from 750 flights
- August 2025: 82.7% from 740 flights
- September 2025: 60.7% from 761 flights
- October 2025: 64.9% from 774 flights
- November 2025: 72.3% from 735 flights
- December 2025: 69.8% from 691 flights
- January 2026: 75.6% from 754 flights
- February 2026: 71.3% from 730 flights
- March 2026: 67.3% from 809 flights
- April 2026: 72.9% from 783 flights
- May 2026: 74.6% from 797 flights
- June 2026: 76.6% from 757 flights
- July 2026: 65.6% from 759 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 71.2% against 78.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 28,569 DCA → BOS 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