ORF to IAD flight delays
Norfolk, VA (ORF) Washington, VA (IAD) · 158 miles
670 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
90.15%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
2.84%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
81 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
9 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: 2.84% 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 81 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. IAD to ORF arrives on time 8 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.
Flights from Norfolk to Washington are among the most dependable in the record. A route this punctual is usually a short hop between airports with slots to spare.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, United Airlines arrived on time most often on ORF to IAD. Republic Airways was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in September and worst in February.
Every airline on ORF to IAD
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 | 341 | 87.27% | 5.28% | 88 min | C |
| United Airlines | 329 | 92.99% | 0.3% | 69 min | A |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
IAD to ORF Washington back to Norfolk 82.11% on time COther routes from Norfolk
Common questions
Are flights from Norfolk to Washington usually delayed?
90.15% of flights on the ORF to IAD route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 1 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Norfolk to Washington?
United Airlines, at 92.99% on time across 329 flights. The least punctual on the route was Republic Airways at 87.27%.
How often are ORF to IAD flights cancelled?
2.84% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 28 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
What is the best month to fly Norfolk to Washington?
September, when 97.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was February at 80%.
When ORF to IAD flights are late, how late are they?
About 81 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 ORF to IAD 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 →