Route profile
DCA→EWR
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Washington to Newark, 199 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – May 2026
Better than 63% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 888 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DCA → EWR arrives on time 89.7% of the time; the return trip, EWR → DCA, arrives on time 78.4% of the time, an 11.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DCA → EWR spends 33.8 minutes on the ground on a 199-mile trip: 20.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DCA and 13.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at EWR.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – May 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 95% of 5,368 comparable routes.
90.1% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-06 to 2026-05), against 89.8% in the 12 months before (2024-03 to 2025-05), virtually unchanged.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – May 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 DCA to EWR differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – May 2026.
DCA to EWR is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 AM: 91.8% arrive on time, 3.9 points ahead of the 87.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 4 points.
DCA to EWR holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 94.1% on time to their 77.4%, a 16.7 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 16.9 points.
October is kinder to DCA to EWR than to routes of similar length: 90.5% on time against 82.2%, 8.3 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.
Republic Airways does better on DCA to EWR than on its routes of similar length: 89.7% on time here, 79.3% there, 10.4 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7.6 points.
DCA to EWR against comparable routes
July 2023 – May 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 91.8% | routes of similar length | 87.9% | +3.9 pts | 437 here, 35,287 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 94.1% | routes of similar length | 77.4% | +16.7 pts | 136 here, 81,320 there |
| Month: October | 90.5% | routes of similar length | 82.2% | +8.3 pts | 148 here, 47,829 there |
| Airline: Republic Airways | 89.7% | routes of similar length | 79.3% | +10.4 pts | 854 here, 127,074 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 199 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 – May 2026
17 min late
against a median of 14 min early
Percentiles over 888 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at EWR after arriving from DCA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 19% | High risk |
| 45 min | 10% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 7.7% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.1% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 2.6% | 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 3.83% of the time and diverts 0.00% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 854 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 17 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 888 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Why DCA → EWR runs late
July 2023 – May 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
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for DCA → EWR. 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 | 888 | 89.7% | 3.83% | -14 min | 4.1% |
Other ways to fly Washington to New York
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA→LGA Washington to New York | 14,236 | 74.0% | 4.52% | -6 min | 40 |
| DCA→EWR this route Washington to Newark | 888 | 89.7% | 3.83% | -14 min | 70 |
DCA → EWR is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 89.7% on time, against 74.0% for DCA → LGA.
Flying to EWR from the Washington area? Compare DCA, BWI, IAD for EWR, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Monday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 8.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – May 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-06 to 2026-05), on-time arrivals averaged 90.1% against 89.8% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 888 DCA → EWR flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – May 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