Airport month record
IADNOV
Washington Dulles International in November 2025
- Departures
- 4,589
- Month
- November 2025
- National, same month
- 79.4%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for November 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s November. For today’s conditions at IAD, see live FAA status.
IAD in November lands a B, 2 points better than the national rate of 79.4%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,589 flights, of which United Airlines flew 2,934 at 83.5% on time.
Key figures
On time
81.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,515 completed departures
Avg delay
71 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.46%
Nationally in November: 2.49%
Whole year
81.1%
IAD across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,589 departures from Washington Dulles International in November 2025. 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
November next to IAD's other months
Against IAD's own year, November ran level with the twelve-month rate of 81.1%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, October ran 84.6% on time and December 74.8%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 5,248 | 69.5% | 102 min | 2.88% | C |
| August 2025 | 5,201 | 81.0% | 70 min | 0.79% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 4,815 | 86.8% | 67 min | 0.27% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 4,854 | 84.6% | 64 min | 0.27% | B+ |
| November 2025 (this page) | 4,589 | 81.8% | 71 min | 1.46% | B |
| December 2025 | 4,676 | 74.8% | 69 min | 0.71% | C+ |
| January 2026 | 4,248 | 83.0% | 82 min | 5.65% | B− |
| February 2026 | 4,037 | 83.3% | 74 min | 1.34% | B |
| March 2026 | 4,983 | 79.6% | 92 min | 1.81% | B |
| April 2026 | 4,843 | 87.2% | 71 min | 0.31% | A+ |
| May 2026 | 5,474 | 84.1% | 78 min | 0.57% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 5,053 | 78.1% | 85 min | 0.93% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave IAD in November
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 18 points, against 2 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am420 flights83.0%
- 8am–11am1,203 flights90.6%
- 11am–2pm843 flights84.6%
- 2pm–5pm242 flights83.8%
- 5pm–8pm1,330 flights72.7%
- 8pm–5am551 flights78.6%
Scale runs 65% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the morning departure. Flights leaving between 8am–11am arrive on time 90.6% of the time, against 72.7% for the evening window. That is 18 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 5pm–8pm window is the busiest, with 1,330 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 87.7% on time and Sunday the weakest at 70.5%. 17 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at IAD in November
The two carriers here are closely matched: 2 points separate the best from the worst. At that spread, schedule and price are better tie-breakers than reliability. Sample sizes are shown so you can see which rows are worth weighing.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 2,934 | 83.5% | 64 min | 0.48% | B+ |
| Republic Airways | 700 | 81.6% | 64 min | 5.14% | B− |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 243 | 80.9% | 100 min | 3.29% | B− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 171 | 79.5% | 125 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 140 | 81.2% | 109 min | 1.43% | B |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 123 | 58.7% | 101 min | 1.63% | D |
| Southwest Airlinesthin sample | 100 | 79.6% | 36 min | 2.00% | B |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 86 | 67.5% | 57 min | 3.49% | C− |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 50 | 81.6% | 88 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 42 | 85.7% | 53 min | 0.00% | A+ |
Republic Airways cancels 5.1% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of IAD in November
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAD to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 322 | 78.9% | 98 min | 2.80% | B |
| IAD to DEN · Denverthin sample | 276 | 91.3% | 36 min | 0.36% | A+ |
| IAD to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 230 | 82.5% | 77 min | 0.87% | B+ |
| IAD to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 198 | 87.2% | 53 min | 0.51% | A+ |
| IAD to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 171 | 77.5% | 50 min | 1.17% | B |
| IAD to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 161 | 82.8% | 93 min | 2.48% | B |
| IAD to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 151 | 77.7% | 68 min | 1.99% | B |
| IAD to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 148 | 86.5% | 62 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAD to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 143 | 78.4% | 93 min | 0.70% | B+ |
| IAD to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 119 | 77.8% | 49 min | 1.68% | B |
| IAD to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 119 | 69.0% | 71 min | 2.52% | C |
| IAD to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 118 | 82.9% | 31 min | 0.85% | B+ |
| IAD to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 117 | 67.0% | 76 min | 1.71% | C |
| IAD to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 115 | 80.0% | 55 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAD to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 109 | 74.8% | 59 min | 1.83% | C |
| IAD to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 108 | 88.7% | 58 min | 0.93% | A+ |
| IAD to TPA · Tampathin sample | 104 | 84.6% | 53 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAD to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 89 | 93.3% | 78 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAD to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 88 | 80.7% | 79 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAD to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 88 | 62.7% | 70 min | 14.77% | D− |
| IAD to IND · Indianapolisthin sample | 87 | 83.7% | 87 min | 1.15% | B |
| IAD to CVG · Cincinnatithin sample | 85 | 80.5% | 62 min | 3.53% | B− |
| IAD to CLE · Clevelandthin sample | 83 | 89.0% | 69 min | 1.20% | A |
| IAD to AUS · Austinthin sample | 79 | 87.2% | 60 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAD to BDL · Hartfordthin sample | 79 | 81.0% | 68 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held IAD up in November
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 59,000 reported delay minutes.
- 34%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%National Airspace System
- 30%Carrier
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
34% 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 59,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 8 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 58,520 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.46% against a national 2.49%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.15%.
6.1% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.8%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from IAD in November
For a November trip through IAD: expect 81.8% on time and 1.46% cancelled, going by November 2025. The 8am–11am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Washington Dulles International (IAD), the whole year
- IAD in July69.5%
- IAD in August81.0%
- IAD in September86.8%
- IAD in October84.6%
- IAD in December74.8%
- IAD in January83.0%
- IAD in February83.3%
- IAD in March79.6%
- IAD in April87.2%
- IAD in May84.1%
- IAD in June78.1%
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.