Flights New York → Washington
LGA → DCA
How long is the flight from New York to Washington?
The flight from New York (LGA) to Washington (DCA) takes 49 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 5 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
This flight route connects New York to Washington, operating with a mix of Airbus A319 and various Embraer aircraft models. With an average delay of fifteen minutes and a punctuality rate of 75%, the service experiences moderate delays but maintains relatively high on-time performance. The destination airport, which opened in 1938, handles over twenty-five million 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 New York (LGA) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines. Across 3024 flights monitored in recent months, 77% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 13 minutes. The cancellation rate is 6.18%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 31.8/100 (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 New York the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from New York (LGA) to Washington (DCA) heads south-west for about 345 km, a flight time of roughly 49m.
Departures from New York on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 36% of LGA-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing New York the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 3,024 tracked LGA-DCA flights, 77% left on time with an average delay of 13 min and a 6.2% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 85% | 1 min | 0.8% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
Airlines operating LGA-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about LGA-DCA
The flight from New York (LGA) to Washington (DCA) takes 49 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 5 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the New York (LGA) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 77% with an average delay of 13 minutes, based on 3024 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on New York-Washington is 6.18% across 3024 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines.
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.
