Route profile
LAS→DCA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Las Vegas to Washington, 2,089 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 49% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 1,650 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
LAS → DCA arrives on time 76.0% of the time; the return trip, DCA → LAS, arrives on time 76.8% of the time.
LAS → DCA spends 27.4 minutes on the ground on a 2,089-mile trip: 20.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LAS and 6.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at DCA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Unlike most, it barely matters what time you fly this route, a steadier spread than 95% of 4,023 comparable routes.
78.3% on time for 12–3 PM departures, against 71.5% for 9 AM–12 PM, a narrow gap either way.
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 LAS to DCA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
LAS to DCA struggles most at 9 AM: 64.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 17.9 points behind the 82.0% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 20.2 points.
Monday is the day LAS to DCA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 71.6% on time where they average 78.4%, 6.8 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
In February, LAS to DCA runs 10.4 points below routes of similar length, 71.1% on time to 81.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.4 points.
LAS to DCA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 AM departures | 64.1% | routes of similar length | 82.0% | −17.9 pts | 301 here, 69,668 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 71.6% | routes of similar length | 78.4% | −6.8 pts | 229 here, 142,449 there |
| Month: February | 71.1% | routes of similar length | 81.5% | −10.4 pts | 121 here, 64,426 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 2,089 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 – July 2026
41 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 1,650 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DCA after arriving from LAS.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 42% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.8% | 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 0.61% of the time and diverts 1.58% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 1,614 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 41 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 1,650 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LAS → DCA flights departing 12–3 PM arrived on time 78.3% of the time, against 71.5% for 9 AM–12 PM departures, a gap of 6.8 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 77.7% on time from 183 flights
- 9 AM: 64.1% on time from 309 flights
- 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 79.3% on time from 141 flights
- 12 PM: 79.2% on time from 628 flights
- 1 PM: 76.4% on time from 289 flights
- 2 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why LAS → DCA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for LAS → DCA. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 1,126 | 78.7% | 0.71% | -8 min | 7.8% |
| Southwest Airlines | 524 | 70.1% | 0.38% | 3 min | 5.1% |
American Airlines flew 68.2% of the 1,650 flights listed.
American Airlines arrived on time 8.6 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Monday the least, a gap of 11.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 84.5%
- Feb: 71.1%
- Mar: 73.3%
- Apr: 85.3%
- May: 75.2%
- Jun: 70.3%
- Jul: 63.3%
- Aug: 76.9%
- Sep: 75.6%
- Oct: 76.6%
- Nov: 82.4%
- Dec: 82.9%
July is historically the weakest month and April the strongest, a spread of 22.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 75.3% against 78.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.7 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 1,650 LAS → DCA 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