BOS to DCA flight delays
Boston, MA (BOS) Washington, VA (DCA) · 399 miles
757 flights · February 2026 – July 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
74.25%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
3.43%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
74 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
20 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. American Airlines arrived on time 10.2 points more often than JetBlue Airways over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
Cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth pricing here: 3.43% of scheduled flights never operated. A late flight still gets you there. A cancelled one leaves you rebooking, and on a route with few daily departures that can mean losing a day.
Flights from Boston to Washington run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over February 2026 – July 2026, American Airlines arrived on time most often on BOS to DCA. JetBlue Airways was late most often.
Every airline on BOS to DCA
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 371 | 77.07% | 2.43% | 62 min | C |
| JetBlue Airways | 201 | 67.19% | 3.98% | 87 min | D |
| American Airlines | 160 | 77.42% | 3.13% | 80 min | C |
| Envoy Air | 22 | 72.22% | 18.18% | 65 min | — |
| Delta Air Lines | 3 | 33.33% | 0% | 46 min | — |
The return leg
DCA to BOS Washington back to Boston 76.62% on time DOther routes from Boston
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on BOS to DCA during February 2026 – July 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →