Route profile
DCA→ORD
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Washington to Chicago. · 612 miles
Right now
Current conditions at both ends of this route.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor. FAA operational data — ground stops, ground delay programs and closures — is not currently available to FlyerIntel.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor. FAA operational data — ground stops, ground delay programs and closures — is not currently available to FlyerIntel.
Airport conditions describe the airfield, not any individual flight. An airport operating normally is not a guarantee that a specific flight will depart on time.
Route reliability
July 2023 – June 2026
Better than 24% of comparable major US routes (4,577 compared)
Calculated from 19,524 flights. How this is calculated
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – June 2026
Best time to fly
On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time.
DCA → ORD flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.3% of the time, against 66.2% for 6–9 PM departures — a gap of 24.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Airlines on this route
Performance by the carrier that actually operated the flight.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 9,975 | 79.3% | 1.89% | -6 min | 8.4% |
| American Airlines | 7,467 | 78.7% | 2.42% | -11 min | 9.5% |
| Republic Airways | 1,492 | 80.3% | 4.49% | -10 min | 8.1% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 419 | 79.7% | 3.34% | -10 min | 9.4% |
Carriers on this route performed within a couple of percentage points of each other.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 200 flights on this route are not listed.
Other ways to fly Washington to Chicago
Airport pairs serving the same journey, grouped by the DOT's own city-market definition. They do not perform the same way.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA→ORD this route Washington to Chicago | 19,524 | 79.2% | 2.35% | -8 min | 56 |
| BWI→ORD Baltimore to Chicago | 8,100 | 79.3% | 1.58% | -7 min | 63 |
| DCA→MDW Washington to Chicago | 6,335 | 80.4% | 1.96% | -5 min | 65 |
| BWI→MDW Baltimore to Chicago | 5,751 | 76.0% | 1.50% | -3 min | 62 |
| IAD→ORD Washington to Chicago | 5,548 | 78.7% | 0.78% | -5 min | 69 |
IAD → ORD is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 78.7% on time, against 79.2% for DCA → ORD.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Grouped by DOT city market, which places Newark with the New York airports and Baltimore with the Washington ones.
Individual flights on this route
The same route is not equally reliable at every hour. These are the flight numbers with enough operating history to judge separately.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA2304 American Airlines | 6:59 AM | 922 | 89.9% |
| AA2903 American Airlines | 6:00 AM | 848 | 85.2% |
| UA1793 United Airlines | 6:30 AM | 815 | 93.5% |
| UA2148 United Airlines | 6:00 PM | 760 | 56.8% |
| AA1200 American Airlines | 9:29 AM | 662 | 77.9% |
| AA489 American Airlines | 11:59 AM | 556 | 85.3% |
| UA2201 United Airlines | 10:30 AM | 477 | 93.0% |
| AA1630 American Airlines | 8:45 PM | 451 | 72.4% |
| UA1888 United Airlines | 3:30 PM | 336 | 71.5% |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Flight numbers with fewer than 270 operations on this route, or no longer scheduled, are not listed.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 7.8 percentage points.
By month
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 14.6 percentage points.
Historical trend
On-time arrival rate by month.
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-07 to 2026-06), on-time arrivals averaged 74.3% against 80.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.3 percentage points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Data and methodology
All figures on this page are calculated by FlyerIntel from 19,524 DCA → ORD flight records published by the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – June 2026. A flight is counted as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after its scheduled arrival time, following BTS methodology. Cancelled and diverted flights have no arrival time and are excluded from on-time rates rather than counted as late.