Flights Raleigh-durham → Washington
RDU → DCA
How long is the flight from Raleigh-durham to Washington?
The flight from Raleigh-durham (RDU) to Washington (DCA) takes 40 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 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 Raleigh-Durham to Washington operates with an Embraer RJ140 aircraft and has a 75% on-time performance rate, with an average delay of 17.1 minutes when flights are not on time. Over the past year, this route has seen 759 total flights, serving a destination airport that opened in 1938 and currently 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 Raleigh-durham (RDU) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by American Airlines. Across 1825 flights monitored in recent months, 75% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 21 minutes. The cancellation rate is 5.42%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 29.7/100 (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 Raleigh-durham the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Raleigh-durham (RDU) to Washington (DCA) heads north-east for about 365 km, a flight time of roughly 40m.
Departures from Raleigh-durham on this leg cluster in the morning window: about 40% of RDU-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Raleigh-durham the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,825 tracked RDU-DCA flights, 75% left on time with an average delay of 21 min and a 5.4% 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 RDU-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about RDU-DCA
The flight from Raleigh-durham (RDU) to Washington (DCA) takes 40 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Raleigh-durham (RDU) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 75% with an average delay of 21 minutes, based on 1825 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Raleigh-durham-Washington is 5.42% across 1825 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.
