Ronald Reagan Washington National in May 2026

75.2%departed on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report.

In May 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 12,158 domestic departures from Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA). 75.2% left less than 15 minutes late and 73.5% reached their destination on time; 1.4% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 77.1% of flights departed on time and 77.6% arrived on time, so DCA departures were 1.9 points below the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in May 2025, the airport had 12,252 departures with 72.3% leaving on time: a change of +2.9 points, with flights down 1%.

Flights arriving at DCA that month were on time 74.1% of the time (12,159 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 45%, national aviation system 25% and air carrier 24%.

On time 73.5%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 24.8%
Cancelled 1.4%
Diverted 0.3%

Every scheduled departure from DCA in May 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

May 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	May 2026	May 2025	DCA, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, May 2026
Departed on time	75.2%	72.3%	70.9%	77.1%
Arrived on time	73.5%	68.9%	70.1%	77.6%
Cancelled	1.4%	2.5%	3.6%	0.9%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	17.6 min	21.2 min	21.2 min	16.0 min
Scheduled departures a day	405	408	390	20,391
Scheduled departures	12,158	12,252	142,173	611,735

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
OH PSA Airlines	3,557	29%	69.0%	11.8 min	2.0%
YX Republic Airline	2,288	19%	78.1%	3.1 min	1.9%
AA American Airlines	2,233	18%	74.0%	9.4 min	1.3%
WN Southwest Airlines	1,350	11%	66.9%	15.6 min	0.4%
DL Delta Air Lines	835	7%	79.6%	8.2 min	1.6%
UA United Airlines	630	5%	74.6%	10.8 min	0.8%
B6 JetBlue Airways	553	5%	77.4%	8.3 min	0.4%
MQ Envoy Air	441	4%	81.6%	3.5 min	1.4%
AS Alaska Airlines	186	2%	76.9%	0.3 min	0.0%
F9 Frontier Airlines	85	1%	80.0%	2.4 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DCA–BOS	Washington to Boston	797	73.7%	9.2 min	1.3%
DCA–ORD	Washington to Chicago	610	74.3%	13.8 min	1.6%
DCA–ATL	Washington to Atlanta	574	74.0%	10.9 min	1.9%
DCA–LGA	Washington to New York	425	65.9%	13.3 min	2.4%
DCA–MCO	Washington to Orlando	394	80.5%	8.5 min	0.5%
DCA–BNA	Washington to Nashville	378	69.3%	12.8 min	0.3%
DCA–MIA	Washington to Miami	341	75.7%	6.9 min	0.6%
DCA–DFW	Washington to Dallas/Fort Worth	300	74.0%	6.7 min	4.0%
DCA–IAH	Washington to Houston	288	70.1%	11.8 min	1.0%
DCA–DTW	Washington to Detroit	257	78.6%	8.8 min	1.6%
DCA–MSP	Washington to Minneapolis	224	78.6%	7.8 min	1.3%
DCA–CLT	Washington to Charlotte	223	81.6%	-2.6 min	0.4%

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), May 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, May 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	23.7%	33.0%	49,820
Late-arriving aircraft	45.2%	40.4%	94,978
National Aviation System	24.5%	20.5%	51,558
Extreme weather	6.4%	6.0%	13,450
Security	0.2%	0.1%	382

210,188 delay minutes on 3,012 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left DCA on time in May 2026?

75.2% of 12,158 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 73.5% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 77.1% and 77.6%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In May 2025, 72.3% of 12,252 departures left on time and 2.5% were cancelled, against 75.2% and 1.4% in May 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for May 2026; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for DCA · methodology · corrections.