PVD to DCA flight delays
Providence, RI (PVD) Washington, VA (DCA) · 356 miles
2,453 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
73.11%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
4.93%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
76 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
21 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: 4.93% 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.
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. Southwest Airlines arrived on time 11 points more often than PSA Airlines 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.
This route does worse than its own airport. PVD as a whole runs 7.4 points more punctual than these flights, which points at something specific to the route — the time of day it is scheduled, or the aircraft that feed it — rather than the airport.
Flights from Providence to Washington run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Southwest Airlines arrived on time most often on PVD to DCA. PSA Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in October and worst in February.
Every airline on PVD 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA Airlines | 1,063 | 67.96% | 7.24% | 91 min | F |
| Southwest Airlines | 672 | 78.92% | 2.68% | 65 min | C |
| American Airlines | 452 | 73.59% | 1.99% | 56 min | D |
| Republic Airways | 196 | 75.14% | 5.1% | 63 min | D |
| Envoy Air | 70 | 84.13% | 10% | 36 min | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
DCA to PVD Washington back to Providence 72.82% on time FOther routes from Providence
Common questions
Are flights from Providence to Washington usually delayed?
73.11% of flights on the PVD to DCA route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Providence to Washington?
Southwest Airlines, at 78.92% on time across 672 flights. The least punctual on the route was PSA Airlines at 67.96%.
How often are PVD to DCA flights cancelled?
4.93% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 49 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
What is the best month to fly Providence to Washington?
October, when 81.6% of flights arrived on time. The worst was February at 65.5%.
When PVD to DCA flights are late, how late are they?
About 76 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 PVD to DCA 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 →