Route profile
DCA→IND
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Washington to Indianapolis, 500 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 39% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,219 flights. How this is calculated
DCA → IND arrives on time 81.2% of the time; the return trip, IND → DCA, arrives on time 80.8% of the time.
DCA → IND spends 30.6 minutes on the ground on a 500-mile trip: 21.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DCA and 9.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at IND.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 91% of 4,023 comparable routes.
90.3% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 59.3% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where DCA to IND differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DCA to IND struggles most at 10 PM: 59.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 9.9 points behind the 68.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 12.7 points.
DCA to IND is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 PM: 77.2% arrive on time, 8.7 points ahead of the 68.5% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.4 points.
DCA to IND holds up on Saturdays better than routes of similar length do: 85.6% on time to their 80.4%, a 5.2 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 6.5 points.
October is kinder to DCA to IND than to routes of similar length: 91.6% on time against 84.1%, 7.5 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 8.6 points.
In February, DCA to IND runs 6.3 points below routes of similar length, 75.8% on time to 82.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
DCA to IND against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 PM departures | 59.0% | routes of similar length | 68.9% | −9.9 pts | 200 here, 29,766 there |
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 77.2% | routes of similar length | 68.5% | +8.7 pts | 597 here, 83,659 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 85.6% | routes of similar length | 80.4% | +5.2 pts | 598 here, 167,715 there |
| Month: October | 91.6% | routes of similar length | 84.1% | +7.5 pts | 524 here, 122,699 there |
| Month: February | 75.8% | routes of similar length | 82.1% | −6.3 pts | 451 here, 97,213 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 500 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 DCA → IND flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DCA → IND cancelled 168 of 6,219 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 37. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 60.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 61 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 168 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.
102 cancellations, 60.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
52 cancellations, 31.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
14 cancellations, 8.3% 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.
168 coded cancellations were recorded on DCA → IND; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
44 min late
against a median of 10 min early
Percentiles over 6,219 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at IND after arriving from DCA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 31% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 18% | High risk |
| 60 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.3% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.4% | 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 2.70% of the time and diverts 0.14% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,042 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 44 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,219 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DCA → IND flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.3% of the time, against 59.3% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 31.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 91.1% on time from 683 flights
- 7 AM: 89.0% on time from 235 flights
- 8 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 90.1% on time from 957 flights
- 11 AM: 81.7% on time from 133 flights
- 12 PM: 84.4% on time from 683 flights
- 1 PM: 75.0% on time from 242 flights
- 2 PM: 82.5% on time from 704 flights
- 3 PM: 71.5% on time from 175 flights
- 4 PM: 69.4% on time from 179 flights
- 5 PM: 74.8% on time from 989 flights
- 6 PM: 70.0% on time from 120 flights
- 7 PM: 77.2% on time from 632 flights
- 8 PM: 69.2% on time from 128 flights
- 9 PM: too few flights to score
- 10 PM: 59.0% on time from 212 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DCA → 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 DCA → IND. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DCA → IND, at 54.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.3% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 59.3%.
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 | 5,298 | 82.3% | 2.70% | -10 min | 6.9% |
| PSA Airlines | 570 | 76.0% | 3.51% | -9 min | 10.9% |
| American Airlines | 225 | 73.1% | 0.89% | -5 min | 11.2% |
Republic Airways flew 87.0% of the 6,093 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 3.51% of its flights here against 0.89% for American Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 9.2 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| YX4701 Republic Airways | 10:00 AM | 965 | 89.3% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.2 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 81.2%
- Feb: 75.8%
- Mar: 81.2%
- Apr: 82.7%
- May: 79.0%
- Jun: 79.5%
- Jul: 75.3%
- Aug: 82.1%
- Sep: 86.8%
- Oct: 91.6%
- Nov: 84.5%
- Dec: 75.4%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 16.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 77.4% from 172 flights
- August 2023: 87.5% from 177 flights
- September 2023: 88.3% from 167 flights
- October 2023: 94.8% from 174 flights
- November 2023: 92.6% from 163 flights
- December 2023: 90.7% from 150 flights
- January 2024: 85.7% from 162 flights
- February 2024: 88.8% from 160 flights
- March 2024: 92.7% from 165 flights
- April 2024: 87.9% from 167 flights
- May 2024: 80.1% from 177 flights
- June 2024: 88.2% from 162 flights
- July 2024: 74.4% from 170 flights
- August 2024: 80.5% from 169 flights
- September 2024: 91.1% from 168 flights
- October 2024: 93.1% from 173 flights
- November 2024: 87.2% from 164 flights
- December 2024: 74.3% from 153 flights
- January 2025: 82.0% from 166 flights
- February 2025: 63.4% from 159 flights
- March 2025: 80.7% from 176 flights
- April 2025: 75.2% from 166 flights
- May 2025: 73.1% from 186 flights
- June 2025: 71.0% from 174 flights
- July 2025: 72.8% from 176 flights
- August 2025: 77.8% from 171 flights
- September 2025: 81.3% from 173 flights
- October 2025: 87.0% from 178 flights
- November 2025: 73.8% from 168 flights
- December 2025: 60.7% from 150 flights
- January 2026: 75.8% from 168 flights
- February 2026: 74.0% from 158 flights
- March 2026: 70.2% from 173 flights
- April 2026: 85.0% from 167 flights
- May 2026: 84.2% from 173 flights
- June 2026: 79.3% from 172 flights
- July 2026: 76.7% from 172 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.4% against 78.7% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,219 DCA → 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