DCA to JFK flight delays
Washington, VA (DCA) New York, NY (JFK) · 213 miles
210 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
84.34%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
5.71%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
105 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
17 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: 5.71% 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.
The shape of the lateness matters here. Flights on this route are not late often, but when they are late they are late by about 105 minutes — long enough to lose a connection or an evening. The on-time percentage looks reassuring and understates the consequence of being on the wrong flight.
The two directions do not behave alike. JFK to DCA arrives on time 14.6 points less often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
This route does better than its own airport. Departures from DCA overall run 12.5 points less punctual than this particular one — so whatever congestion DCA has, this route is largely escaping it.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Republic Airways arrived on time most often on DCA to JFK.
Every airline on DCA to JFK
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 | 180 | 82.84% | 6.11% | 105 min | C |
| JetBlue Airways | 30 | 93.1% | 3.33% | 103 min | — |
The return leg
JFK to DCA New York back to Washington 69.74% on time FOther routes from Washington
Common questions
Are flights from Washington to New York usually delayed?
84.34% of flights on the DCA to JFK route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Washington to New York?
Only Republic Airways appears in the published record on this route, with 180 flights and 82.84% arriving on time.
How often are DCA to JFK flights cancelled?
5.71% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 57 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
When DCA to JFK flights are late, how late are they?
About 105 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 JFK 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 →