Flights Louisville → Washington
SDF → DCA
How long is the flight from Louisville to Washington?
The flight from Louisville (SDF) to Washington (DCA) takes 1h 9m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from Louisville to Washington, operated by an Embraer 175 aircraft, has a high on-time performance rate of 84%, with an average delay of just 10.6 minutes per flight. Over the past year, this route has seen 264 flights, serving one of the busiest airports in the United States, which opened in 1938 and handles approximately 25,453,581 passengers annually.
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 Louisville (SDF) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by American Airlines. Across 635 flights monitored in recent months, 83% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 15 minutes. The cancellation rate is 3.78%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 23/100 (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 Louisville the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Louisville (SDF) to Washington (DCA) heads east for about 760 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 9m.
Departures from Louisville on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 52% of SDF-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Louisville the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 635 tracked SDF-DCA flights, 83% left on time with an average delay of 15 min and a 3.8% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
Airlines operating SDF-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SDF-DCA
The flight from Louisville (SDF) to Washington (DCA) takes 1h 9m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Louisville (SDF) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 83% with an average delay of 15 minutes, based on 635 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Louisville-Washington is 3.78% across 635 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: American 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.
