Flights Cleveland → Washington
CLE → DCA
How long is the flight from Cleveland to Washington?
The flight from Cleveland (CLE) to Washington (DCA) takes 57 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 1 scheduled flight on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
This flight route operates between Cleveland and Washington, utilizing Embraer 170 aircraft. With a 72% on-time performance rate and an average delay of 30.1 minutes, the service has seen 401 total flights. The origin airport in Cleveland opened in 1925, while the destination airport in Washington, which handles over 25 million passengers annually, was inaugurated in 1938.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Cleveland (CLE) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 956 flights monitored in recent months, 73% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 30 minutes. The cancellation rate is 7.64%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 26.6/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Washington the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Cleveland the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Cleveland (CLE) to Washington (DCA) heads south-east for about 498 km, a flight time of roughly 57m.
Departures from Cleveland on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 35% of CLE-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Cleveland the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 956 tracked CLE-DCA flights, 73% left on time with an average delay of 30 min and a 7.6% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
Airlines operating CLE-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about CLE-DCA
The flight from Cleveland (CLE) to Washington (DCA) takes 57 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 1 scheduled flight on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Cleveland (CLE) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 73% with an average delay of 30 minutes, based on 956 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Cleveland-Washington is 7.64% across 956 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Washington, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
