Routes › San Diego (SAN) › SAN to IAD
Route · 12 months to July 2026
San Diego to Washington: on-time record
San Diego International to Washington Dulles International
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.
87.1% of scheduled SAN to IAD flights arrived on time in the 12 months to July 2026. The figure covers 1,402 flights between San Diego and Washington by carriers that report to BTS, a distance of 2,253 miles.
That is 11.1 points above the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and 11.0 points above the 76.1% recorded for all departures from SAN. Flights that did arrive were 4.9 minutes early on average, and 0.7% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).
2 reporting carriers flew the route at least 60 times. United Airlines had the highest on-time share at 87.5% of 1,041 flights; Alaska Airlines had the lowest at 85.9% of 361.
By scheduled departure hour (local time at SAN), flights leaving from 1 pm to 2 pm had the highest on-time share, 91.4%; those leaving from 10 am to 11 am had the lowest, 73.2%.
The on-time share is up 6.8 points on the previous 12 months (80.3%); cancellations moved from 0.3% to 0.7%.
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, air carrier 39%, national aviation system 25% and late-arriving aircraft 22%.
- On time 87.1%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 11.6%
- Cancelled 0.7%
- Diverted 0.6%
Airlines on the route compared
| Reporting carrier | Flights | Share | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UA United Airlines | 1,041 | 74% | 87.5% | -4.4 min | 0.7% |
| AS Alaska Airlines | 361 | 26% | 85.9% | -6.2 min | 0.8% |
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
| Measure | SAN to IAD | All departures from SAN | All arrivals at IAD | All reported flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrived on time | 87.1% | 76.1% | 81.9% | 76.0% |
| Arrived 15+ minutes late | 11.6% | 22.2% | 16.5% | 21.9% |
| Cancelled | 0.7% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.8% |
| Diverted | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Average arrival delay | -4.9 min | 5.7 min | 3.5 min | 8.1 min |
| Delay minutes per 100 flights | 971 | 1,468 | 1,334 | 1,684 |
| Scheduled flights | 1,402 | 100,196 | 57,761 | 7,043,858 |
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, IAD to SAN, recorded 83.3% on time across 1,402 flights in the same period.
Month by month
Year on year: on time 87.1% against 80.3% (+6.8 pts), cancelled 0.7% against 0.3%, flights 1,402 against 1,455.
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes
Seasonality
| Calendar month | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg arrival delay | Years in sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 379 | 78.6% | 10.0% | -1.8 min | 3 |
| Feb | 355 | 89.3% | 0.6% | -9.2 min | 3 |
| Mar | 395 | 85.1% | 0.3% | 0.0 min | 3 |
| Apr | 381 | 85.6% | 0.5% | -5.0 min | 3 |
| May | 390 | 87.2% | 0.3% | -2.7 min | 3 |
| Jun | 360 | 84.4% | 0.0% | 1.4 min | 3 |
| Jul | 370 | 71.4% | 1.1% | 7.7 min | 3 |
| Aug | 403 | 79.7% | 1.0% | 1.6 min | 3 |
| Sep | 388 | 87.4% | 0.8% | -4.1 min | 3 |
| Oct | 397 | 84.6% | 0.0% | -3.9 min | 3 |
| Nov | 373 | 86.9% | 0.0% | -5.4 min | 3 |
| Dec | 384 | 84.9% | 0.3% | 2.1 min | 3 |
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 San Diego (SAN)
| Route | Cities | Flights | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAN–SFO | San Diego to San Francisco | 6,660 | 61.3% | 17.1 min | 1.3% |
| SAN–DEN | San Diego to Denver | 6,033 | 78.3% | 3.6 min | 0.9% |
| SAN–PHX | San Diego to Phoenix | 5,976 | 73.2% | 11.0 min | 1.6% |
| SAN–LAS | San Diego to Las Vegas | 5,612 | 73.9% | 7.5 min | 1.4% |
| SAN–SMF | San Diego to Sacramento | 5,174 | 75.3% | 4.8 min | 0.9% |
| SAN–SJC | San Diego to San Jose | 4,958 | 75.8% | 4.6 min | 0.8% |
| SAN–SEA | San Diego to Seattle | 4,593 | 79.7% | 1.8 min | 1.5% |
| SAN–ORD | San Diego to Chicago | 3,869 | 76.1% | 7.1 min | 1.3% |
All 73 routes and the airport record for SAN · airport record for IAD
Questions and answers
How often are flights from San Diego to Washington on time?
87.1% of the 1,402 flights scheduled from SAN to IAD 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 SAN to IAD?
Among reporting carriers with at least 60 flights on the route, United Airlines had the highest on-time share (87.5%), followed by Alaska Airlines (85.9%). Differences of a point or two on a few hundred flights are small.
What causes delays between San Diego and Washington?
For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: air carrier 39%, national aviation system 25%, late-arriving aircraft 22%, extreme weather 14%, 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 SAN?
Flights scheduled to leave SAN from 1 pm to 2 pm arrived on time 91.4% of the time, the highest of any hour with enough flights to compare. The lowest was 10 am to 11 am at 73.2%. Delays tend to build through the day as late aircraft carry over to later flights.
Is it getting better?
The on-time share for the 12 months to July 2026 was 87.1%, up 6.8 points on the previous 12 months (80.3%). The monthly chart on this page shows each of the last 36 months. Across those months, February had the highest on-time share (89.3%) and July the lowest (71.4%).
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.