Routes › San Antonio (SAT) › SAT to DCA
Route · 12 months to July 2026
San Antonio to Washington: on-time record
San Antonio International to Ronald Reagan Washington National
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 351 flights from San Antonio (SAT) to Washington (DCA), a distance of 1,380 miles. 87.5% of them arrived within 15 minutes of schedule.
That is 11.5 points above the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and 6.9 points above the 80.6% recorded for all departures from SAT. Flights that did arrive were 4.6 min late on average, and 2.3% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).
American Airlines is the only reporting carrier on the route, with 351 flights in the period.
The on-time share is down 1.2 points on the previous 12 months (88.7%); cancellations moved from 2.0% to 2.3%.
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, air carrier 78%, late-arriving aircraft 8% and extreme weather 8%.
- On time 87.5%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 10.0%
- Cancelled 2.3%
- Diverted 0.3%
Airlines on the route compared
| Reporting carrier | Flights | Share | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA American Airlines | 351 | 100% | 87.5% | 4.6 min | 2.3% |
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 | SAT to DCA | All departures from SAT | All arrivals at DCA | All reported flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrived on time | 87.5% | 80.6% | 68.8% | 76.0% |
| Arrived 15+ minutes late | 10.0% | 17.8% | 27.3% | 21.9% |
| Cancelled | 2.3% | 1.2% | 3.5% | 1.8% |
| Diverted | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| Average arrival delay | 4.6 min | 5.2 min | 15.3 min | 8.1 min |
| Delay minutes per 100 flights | 1,503 | 1,414 | 2,291 | 1,684 |
| Scheduled flights | 351 | 40,226 | 142,208 | 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, DCA to SAT, recorded 55.1% on time across 350 flights in the same period.
Month by month
Year on year: on time 87.5% against 88.7% (−1.2 pts), cancelled 2.3% against 2.0%, flights 351 against 151.
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes
Seasonality
| Calendar month | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg arrival delay | Years in sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26 | 76.9% | 11.5% | -0.3 min | 1 |
| Feb | 28 | 92.9% | 0.0% | -6.9 min | 1 |
| Mar | 60 | 90.0% | 0.0% | 1.2 min | 2 |
| Apr | 60 | 90.0% | 0.0% | 14.2 min | 2 |
| May | 62 | 91.9% | 0.0% | 15.0 min | 2 |
| Jun | 60 | 80.0% | 3.3% | 4.9 min | 2 |
| Jul | 61 | 82.0% | 8.2% | -1.9 min | 2 |
| Aug | 31 | 87.1% | 3.2% | -6.3 min | 1 |
| Sep | 30 | 96.7% | 0.0% | -2.2 min | 1 |
| Oct | 31 | 93.5% | 0.0% | -10.5 min | 1 |
| Nov | 30 | 90.0% | 0.0% | -2.5 min | 1 |
| Dec | 23 | 87.0% | 0.0% | -8.0 min | 1 |
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 Antonio (SAT)
| Route | Cities | Flights | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAT–DFW | San Antonio to Dallas/Fort Worth | 4,375 | 75.3% | 15.5 min | 3.2% |
| SAT–DEN | San Antonio to Denver | 3,040 | 81.3% | 4.3 min | 0.4% |
| SAT–ATL | San Antonio to Atlanta | 2,999 | 83.9% | 1.5 min | 1.7% |
| SAT–DAL | San Antonio to Dallas | 2,743 | 82.1% | 2.2 min | 1.1% |
| SAT–PHX | San Antonio to Phoenix | 2,509 | 81.1% | 5.5 min | 0.4% |
| SAT–IAH | San Antonio to Houston | 2,405 | 81.5% | 4.2 min | 0.6% |
| SAT–LAS | San Antonio to Las Vegas | 2,040 | 79.3% | 3.7 min | 0.5% |
| SAT–ORD | San Antonio to Chicago | 1,979 | 74.6% | 9.1 min | 2.3% |
All 40 routes and the airport record for SAT · airport record for DCA
Questions and answers
How often are flights from San Antonio to Washington on time?
87.5% of the 351 flights scheduled from SAT to DCA 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 SAT to DCA?
American 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 San Antonio and Washington?
For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: air carrier 78%, late-arriving aircraft 8%, extreme weather 8%, national aviation system 6%, 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 SAT?
Too few departure hours carry enough flights on this route to compare them.
Is it getting better?
The on-time share for the 12 months to July 2026 was 87.5%, down 1.2 points on the previous 12 months (88.7%). The monthly chart on this page shows each of the last 36 months.
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.