Flights Houston → Washington
HOU → DCA
Route overview
The flight route from Houston to Washington has a 70% on-time performance rate, with an average delay of 15.4 minutes when flights are not on time. The destination airport, which opened in 1938, handles approximately 25,453,581 passengers annually, making it one of the busiest airports in the country.
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 Houston (HOU) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 343 flights monitored in recent months, 70% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 16 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.04%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 26/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Houston the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Houston (HOU) to Washington (DCA) heads north-east for about 1,959 km, a flight time of roughly 2h 52m.
Departures from Houston on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 41% of HOU-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Houston the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 343 tracked HOU-DCA flights, 70% left on time with an average delay of 16 min and a 2.0% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines (WN) | 73% | 6 min | 3.1% |
Airlines operating HOU-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about HOU-DCA
On the Houston (HOU) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 70% with an average delay of 16 minutes, based on 343 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Houston-Washington is 2.04% across 343 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: Southwest 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.
