DCA to SDF flight delays
Washington, VA (DCA) Louisville, KY (SDF) · 474 miles
1,031 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
75.08%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
6.5%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
68 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
18 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: 6.5% 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 season swings this route hard. In October it ran 31.9 points more punctual than in December — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The 2 airlines here are separated by under 1 point — close enough to call a tie. Choose on price and departure time.
Flights from Washington to Louisville run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Republic Airways arrived on time most often on DCA to SDF. PSA Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in October and worst in December.
Every airline on DCA to SDF
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA Airlines | 572 | 74.63% | 6.29% | 61 min | F |
| Republic Airways | 441 | 75.37% | 6.8% | 79 min | F |
| Envoy Air | 13 | 83.33% | 7.69% | 42 min | — |
| American Airlines | 5 | 80% | 0% | 66 min | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
SDF to DCA Louisville back to Washington 78.94% on time DOther routes from Washington
Common questions
Are flights from Washington to Louisville usually delayed?
75.08% of flights on the DCA to SDF 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 airline is most on time from Washington to Louisville?
Republic Airways, at 75.37% on time across 441 flights. The least punctual on the route was PSA Airlines at 74.63%.
How often are DCA to SDF flights cancelled?
6.5% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 65 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
What is the best month to fly Washington to Louisville?
October, when 87.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was December at 55.2%.
When DCA to SDF flights are late, how late are they?
About 68 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 SDF during January 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 →