DCA to IND flight delays
Washington, VA (DCA) Indianapolis, IN (IND) · 500 miles
172 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
79.27%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
2.91%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
70 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
15 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth pricing here: 2.91% 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.
This route does better than its own airport. Departures from DCA overall run 7.4 points less punctual than this particular one — so whatever congestion DCA has, this route is largely escaping it.
Only Republic Airways flies this route in the published record, so there is no choice to weigh — the route's figures and the airline's are the same figures.
The Washington to Indianapolis route sits close to the middle of the record — neither notably punctual nor notably late.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Republic Airways arrived on time most often on DCA to IND.
Every airline on DCA to IND
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 | 140 | 81.95% | 2.86% | 68 min | C |
| PSA Airlines | 32 | 67.74% | 3.13% | 74 min | — |
The return leg
IND to DCA Indianapolis back to Washington 82.21% on time COther routes from Washington
Common questions
Are flights from Washington to Indianapolis usually delayed?
79.27% of flights on the DCA to IND route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Washington to Indianapolis?
Only Republic Airways appears in the published record on this route, with 140 flights and 81.95% arriving on time.
How often are DCA to IND flights cancelled?
2.91% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 29 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
When DCA to IND flights are late, how late are they?
About 70 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on DCA to IND during March 2025 – August 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 →