On-Time Report

Routes › Washington (IAD) › IAD to PBI

Route · 12 months to July 2026

Washington to West Palm Beach/Palm Beach: on-time record

Washington Dulles International to Palm Beach International

79.9%arrived 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. Data through July 2026; this is a monthly history, not live flight status.

In the 12 months to July 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 334 flights from Washington (IAD) to West Palm Beach/Palm Beach (PBI), a distance of 859 miles. 79.9% of them arrived within 15 minutes of schedule.

That is 3.9 points above the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and level with the 80.1% recorded for all departures from IAD. Flights that did arrive were 5.4 min late on average, and 1.2% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).

United Airlines operates most of the reported flights on the route, with 303 flights in the period.

By scheduled departure hour (local time at IAD), flights leaving from 6 pm to 7 pm had the highest on-time share, 90.9%; those leaving from 9 am to 10 am had the lowest, 74.2%.

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, late-arriving aircraft 40%, national aviation system 32% and air carrier 23%.

79.9%arrived on timenational 76.0%
5.4 minaverage arrival delayearly arrivals count as negative; national 8.1 min
1.2%cancellednational 1.8%
28flights a month334 in 12 months · 859 miles
Every scheduled IAD to PBI flight by a reporting carrier, August 2025 to July 2026.

Airlines on the route compared

Reporting carrierFlightsShareOn timeAvg arrival delayCancelled
UA United Airlines30391%79.9%6.2 min1.3%
YX Republic Airline319%80.6%-2.2 min0.0%

Carriers with at least 24 flights in the 12 months to July 2026. The on-time pill is green when a carrier is at or above the route's overall share. Regional carriers operate flights sold under larger airlines' brands; BTS lists the carrier that operated the flight.

Compared with the airports and the nation

MeasureIAD to PBIAll departures from IADAll arrivals at PBIAll reported flights
Arrived on time79.9%80.1%71.8%76.0%
Arrived 15+ minutes late18.3%18.2%25.5%21.9%
Cancelled1.2%1.4%2.5%1.8%
Diverted0.6%0.3%0.3%0.3%
Average arrival delay5.4 min4.8 min10.0 min8.1 min
Delay minutes per 100 flights1,5021,5141,8351,684
Scheduled flights33458,03131,4057,043,858

12 months to July 2026. Delay minutes count late arrivals only (an early arrival is zero), so the per-100-flights row is a normalised total rather than an average of early and late.

The return direction, PBI to IAD, recorded 82.6% on time across 333 flights in the same period.

Month by month

100%columns start at 40%
Share of scheduled IAD to PBI flights that arrived on time, Aug 2023 to Jul 2026. Green columns are at or above the national figure for that month (the dark tick), amber below it, red more than eight points below.

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over
Share of flights that arrived on time, by the hour they were scheduled to leave IAD (local time), 12 months to July 2026. Faded cells have few flights. Hover or tap a cell for counts.

Delay causes

BTS cause categoryShare of delay minutesNationalMinutes
Air carrier23.2%33.3%1,089
Late-arriving aircraft40.2%39.7%1,884
National Aviation System32.1%20.7%1,506
Extreme weather4.5%6.1%211
Security0.0%0.1%0
4,690 delay minutes on 61 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Seasonality

Calendar monthFlightsOn timeCancelledAvg arrival delayYears in sample
Jan5084.0%4.0%11.3 min3
Feb6073.3%0.0%4.3 min2
Mar6882.4%2.9%12.2 min2
Apr5984.7%0.0%3.1 min1
May4185.4%0.0%-2.7 min2
Sep6100.0%0.0%-6.8 min1
Oct3177.4%0.0%-0.2 min1
Nov3076.7%3.3%2.9 min1
Dec6973.9%0.0%9.8 min3

Each calendar month summed across the 36 months on file, so most rows combine three years. The pill compares the month with the route's own 12-month share.

Other routes from Washington (IAD)

RouteCitiesFlightsOn timeAvg arrival delayCancelled
IAD–ATLWashington to Atlanta3,98976.7%8.0 min2.1%
IAD–DENWashington to Denver3,46582.1%1.9 min0.5%
IAD–SFOWashington to San Francisco2,72978.0%6.0 min0.8%
IAD–LAXWashington to Los Angeles2,47283.0%-1.9 min0.8%
IAD–MCOWashington to Orlando2,17779.9%3.6 min1.1%
IAD–ORDWashington to Chicago2,08574.4%12.2 min1.0%
IAD–CLTWashington to Charlotte1,98881.1%2.9 min2.6%
IAD–DFWWashington to Dallas/Fort Worth1,95175.2%11.4 min1.9%

All 78 routes and the airport record for IAD · airport record for PBI

Questions and answers

How often are flights from Washington to West Palm Beach/Palm Beach on time?

79.9% of the 334 flights scheduled from IAD to PBI in the 12 months to July 2026 arrived less than 15 minutes after their scheduled time. The national share for the same period was 76.0%. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.

Which airline has the highest on-time share from IAD to PBI?

United Airlines is the only reporting carrier with at least 60 flights on the route in the period, so there is no comparison to make.

What causes delays between Washington and West Palm Beach/Palm Beach?

For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: late-arriving aircraft 40%, national aviation system 32%, air carrier 23%, extreme weather 5%, security 0%. The categories are the carriers' own reports to BTS; weather that slows the wider system is usually recorded under the National Aviation System rather than extreme weather.

What time of day has the highest on-time share from IAD?

Flights scheduled to leave IAD from 6 pm to 7 pm arrived on time 90.9% of the time, the highest of any hour with enough flights to compare. The lowest was 9 am to 10 am at 74.2%. Delays tend to build through the day as late aircraft carry over to later flights.

Is it getting better?

The route does not have enough flights in the previous 12 months for a year-on-year comparison. The monthly chart on this page shows the months that are available.

Where does this data come from?

Every figure is computed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance files, which list each scheduled domestic flight by the carriers required to report. This page covers August 2023 to July 2026. It shows totals and averages only; it is not a live flight-status service.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987 to present), monthly files August 2023 to July 2026, a US government work in the public domain. Figures are totals and averages over all scheduled flights by reporting carriers on the route; no individual flight or aircraft is identified. Times are local to the departure airport. The load factor and passenger counts from the BTS T-100 series are not included in this edition. See the methodology; report processing errors through corrections.