Route profile
EWR→IAD
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Newark to Washington, 212 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 4,607 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
EWR → IAD arrives on time 74.0% of the time; the return trip, IAD → EWR, arrives on time 73.4% of the time.
EWR → IAD spends 34.0 minutes on the ground on a 212-mile trip: 27.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at EWR and 7.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at IAD.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability here swings unusually widely by season, a wider month-to-month spread than 93% of 3,357 comparable routes.
82.0% on time in a typical February, against 57.2% in July.
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 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where EWR to IAD differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
EWR to IAD struggles most at 6 PM: 59.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 8.9 points behind the 68.2% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
EWR to IAD is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 AM: 94.0% arrive on time, 2.3 points ahead of the 91.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 3.2 points.
Wednesday is the day EWR to IAD slips furthest against routes of similar length, 74.0% on time where they average 81.0%, 7 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
In July, EWR to IAD runs 13.5 points below routes of similar length, 57.2% on time to 70.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 12.5 points.
United Airlines’ flights on EWR to IAD arrive on time 73.4% of the time, 5.1 points below the 78.5% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6.5 points.
EWR to IAD against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 59.3% | routes of similar length | 68.2% | −8.9 pts | 150 here, 37,259 there |
| Hour: 6 AM departures | 94.0% | routes of similar length | 91.7% | +2.3 pts | 968 here, 47,656 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 74.0% | routes of similar length | 81.0% | −7.0 pts | 655 here, 93,668 there |
| Month: July | 57.2% | routes of similar length | 70.7% | −13.5 pts | 493 here, 69,050 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 73.4% | routes of similar length | 78.5% | −5.1 pts | 4,053 here, 63,502 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 212 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 EWR → IAD flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
EWR → IAD cancelled 113 of 4,607 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 41. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 73.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 56 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 113 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.
83 cancellations, 73.5% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
18 cancellations, 15.9% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
12 cancellations, 10.6% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
113 coded cancellations were recorded on EWR → IAD; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
66 min late
against a median of 4 min early
EWR → IAD has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 4 min early, but the worst tenth are 70 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 4,607 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at IAD after arriving from EWR.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 42% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.3% | 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 2.45% of the time and diverts 0.09% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,490 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 66 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,607 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
EWR → IAD flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 94.2% of the time, against 63.1% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 31.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 94.0% on time from 987 flights
- 7 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 86.9% on time from 194 flights
- 11 AM to 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 67.6% on time from 434 flights
- 3 PM: 66.3% on time from 662 flights
- 4 PM: 72.4% on time from 121 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 59.3% on time from 150 flights
- 7 PM: 62.8% on time from 923 flights
- 8 PM: 67.3% on time from 209 flights
- 9 PM: 70.8% on time from 715 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why EWR → IAD 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 EWR → IAD. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on EWR → IAD, at 41.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 94.2% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 63.1%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 4,146 | 73.4% | 2.17% | -4 min | 11.3% |
| Republic Airways | 461 | 79.4% | 4.99% | -8 min | 8.7% |
United Airlines flew 90.0% of the 4,607 flights listed. Republic Airways cancelled 4.99% of its flights here against 2.17% for United Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 6.0 percentage points more often than United Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly New York to Washington
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA→DCA New York to Washington | 14,238 | 76.7% | 4.07% | -9 min | 49 |
| EWR→IAD this route Newark to Washington | 4,607 | 74.0% | 2.45% | -4 min | 47 |
Flying to IAD from the New York area? Compare EWR, LGA, JFK for IAD, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UA1992 United Airlines | 3:00 PM | 836 | 63.9% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 74.5%
- Feb: 82.0%
- Mar: 77.7%
- Apr: 77.9%
- May: 77.2%
- Jun: 75.3%
- Jul: 57.2%
- Aug: 74.5%
- Sep: 74.2%
- Oct: 75.5%
- Nov: 75.4%
- Dec: 73.1%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 24.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 57.3% from 137 flights
- August 2023: 82.5% from 157 flights
- September 2023: 70.5% from 128 flights
- October 2023: 83.3% from 162 flights
- November 2023: too few flights to score (118)
- December 2023: 83.3% from 126 flights
- January 2024: too few flights to score (94)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (102)
- March 2024: 83.3% from 121 flights
- April 2024: too few flights to score (104)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (118)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (115)
- July 2024: 54.7% from 120 flights
- August 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- October 2024: 75.4% from 122 flights
- November 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (112)
- March 2025: 78.0% from 127 flights
- April 2025: 78.9% from 143 flights
- May 2025: 70.5% from 143 flights
- June 2025: 69.7% from 122 flights
- July 2025: 47.8% from 124 flights
- August 2025: 72.0% from 125 flights
- September 2025: 75.4% from 122 flights
- October 2025: 65.3% from 125 flights
- November 2025: too few flights to score (117)
- December 2025: 68.5% from 124 flights
- January 2026: 79.7% from 124 flights
- February 2026: too few flights to score (113)
- March 2026: 71.9% from 123 flights
- April 2026: 81.7% from 120 flights
- May 2026: 86.5% from 135 flights
- June 2026: 81.8% from 150 flights
- July 2026: 66.9% from 156 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 75.2% against 70.2% in the 12 months before — improving by 5.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,607 EWR → IAD 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