Flights Newark → Washington
EWR → DCA
Route overview
The flight route from Newark to Washington operates with a De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400 Dash 8Q aircraft and has an on-time performance rate of 75%. With a mean delay time of 21.6 minutes, the route sees a total of 835 flights annually. The destination airport, which opened in 1938, handles over 25 million passengers per year compared to the origin airport that opened more recently in 2001.
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 Newark (EWR) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 1071 flights monitored in recent months, 78% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 17 minutes. The cancellation rate is 4.39%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 29.1/100 (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 Newark the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Newark (EWR) to Washington (DCA) heads south-west for about 319 km, a flight time of roughly 49m.
Departures from Newark on this leg cluster in the morning window: about 41% of EWR-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Newark the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 1,071 tracked EWR-DCA flights, 78% left on time with an average delay of 17 min and a 4.4% 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) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
Airlines operating EWR-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about EWR-DCA
On the Newark (EWR) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 78% with an average delay of 17 minutes, based on 1071 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Newark-Washington is 4.39% across 1071 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.
