Airport month record
DCAMAY
Ronald Reagan Washington National in May 2026
- Departures
- 12,158
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at DCA, see live FAA status.
DCA in May sits in the middle of the pack with a C. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 4 points worse than the national rate of 78.6%. The late ones land a little over an hour behind schedule. That rests on 12,158 flights, of which Envoy Air flew 441 at 82.8% on time.
Envoy Air is the most reliable of the eight carriers covered here at 82.8% on time across 441 flights.
Key figures
On time
74.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 11,944 completed departures
Avg delay
70 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.45%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
73.3%
DCA across all twelve months
These figures cover 12,158 departures from Ronald Reagan Washington National in May 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
May next to DCA's other months
Against DCA's own year, May ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 73.3%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for DCA in May, at 1.45% against 3.69% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 77.0% on time and June 71.6%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 12,192 | 67.0% | 103 min | 9.51% | C− |
| August 2025 | 12,098 | 76.8% | 74 min | 2.12% | B |
| September 2025 | 11,822 | 77.9% | 66 min | 0.82% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 12,273 | 76.9% | 61 min | 0.62% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 11,586 | 72.7% | 73 min | 3.04% | C− |
| December 2025 | 11,308 | 66.8% | 73 min | 2.28% | C |
| January 2026 | 11,858 | 75.1% | 77 min | 9.43% | B− |
| February 2026 | 10,996 | 71.1% | 71 min | 4.27% | C− |
| March 2026 | 12,204 | 70.2% | 85 min | 4.98% | C− |
| April 2026 | 11,802 | 77.0% | 76 min | 0.80% | B+ |
| May 2026 (this page) | 12,158 | 74.8% | 70 min | 1.45% | C |
| June 2026 | 11,953 | 71.6% | 88 min | 4.94% | C− |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave DCA in May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 29 points, against 15 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,565 flights92.5%
- 8am–11am2,538 flights82.7%
- 11am–2pm2,035 flights77.3%
- 2pm–5pm2,177 flights68.5%
- 5pm–8pm2,195 flights63.3%
- 8pm–5am1,648 flights65.4%
Scale runs 55% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 5pm–8pm window is where this operation falls apart: 63.3% on time, against 92.5% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 2,538 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 85.1% on time and Wednesday the weakest at 60.5%. 25 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at DCA in May
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Envoy Air arrives on time 82.8% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 67.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 1,350 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA Airlines | 3,557 | 70.5% | 67 min | 2.00% | C |
| Republic Airways | 2,288 | 79.8% | 63 min | 1.92% | B |
| American Airlines | 2,233 | 75.6% | 78 min | 1.34% | B |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,350 | 67.4% | 63 min | 0.37% | C+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 835 | 81.3% | 92 min | 1.56% | B |
| United Airlines | 630 | 75.3% | 73 min | 0.79% | B+ |
| JetBlue Airways | 553 | 77.8% | 75 min | 0.36% | B+ |
| Envoy Air | 441 | 82.8% | 90 min | 1.36% | B |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 186 | 77.3% | 46 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 85 | 80.0% | 49 min | 0.00% | B+ |
The spread between Envoy and Southwest is 15 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 15 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of DCA in May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA to BOS · Boston | 797 | 74.6% | 72 min | 1.25% | C |
| DCA to ORD · Chicago | 610 | 75.5% | 87 min | 1.64% | B |
| DCA to ATL · Atlanta | 574 | 75.8% | 79 min | 1.92% | B |
| DCA to LGA · New York | 425 | 67.5% | 65 min | 2.35% | C |
| DCA to MCO · Orlando | 394 | 80.9% | 93 min | 0.51% | B+ |
| DCA to BNA · Nashville | 378 | 69.7% | 60 min | 0.26% | C+ |
| DCA to MIA · Miamithin sample | 341 | 76.8% | 77 min | 0.59% | B+ |
| DCA to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 300 | 79.3% | 85 min | 4.00% | B− |
| DCA to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 288 | 70.9% | 67 min | 1.04% | C |
| DCA to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 257 | 79.8% | 87 min | 1.56% | B |
| DCA to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 224 | 79.6% | 85 min | 1.34% | B |
| DCA to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 223 | 82.4% | 56 min | 0.45% | B+ |
| DCA to PVD · Providencethin sample | 213 | 72.7% | 53 min | 1.88% | C |
| DCA to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 205 | 87.1% | 57 min | 1.95% | A |
| DCA to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 197 | 72.9% | 74 min | 2.03% | C |
| DCA to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 195 | 73.7% | 63 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| DCA to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 178 | 87.4% | 107 min | 1.69% | A |
| DCA to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 176 | 70.5% | 51 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| DCA to TPA · Tampathin sample | 176 | 76.9% | 119 min | 1.14% | B |
| DCA to IND · Indianapolisthin sample | 173 | 84.2% | 95 min | 4.62% | B− |
| DCA to MSY · New Orleansthin sample | 170 | 68.1% | 60 min | 1.76% | C |
| DCA to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 166 | 70.4% | 57 min | 2.41% | C |
| DCA to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 166 | 67.1% | 68 min | 1.20% | C |
| DCA to CHS · Charlestonthin sample | 151 | 76.2% | 75 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| DCA to BDL · Hartfordthin sample | 149 | 72.6% | 54 min | 2.01% | C |
Delay causes
What held DCA up in May
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 45% of the 210,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 45%Late-arriving aircraft
- 25%National Airspace System
- 24%Carrier
- 6%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
45% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 210,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 7 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 210,188 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.45% against a national 0.92%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.31%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 9.5% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 7.1% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from DCA in May
For a May trip through DCA: expect 74.8% on time and 1.45% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA), the whole year
- DCA in July67.0%
- DCA in August76.8%
- DCA in September77.9%
- DCA in October76.9%
- DCA in November72.7%
- DCA in December66.8%
- DCA in January75.1%
- DCA in February71.1%
- DCA in March70.2%
- DCA in April77.0%
- DCA in June71.6%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.