Flights Washington → Columbia
DCA → CAE
Route overview
The flight route from Washington to Columbia has a moderate on-time performance rate of 62%, with an average delay of 24 minutes. Over the past year, there have been 258 flights on this route, connecting travelers from Washington's historic airport, which opened in 1938, to the bustling destination city of Columbia, where over one million passengers pass through 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 Washington (DCA) → Columbia (CAE) route is operated by American Airlines. Across 341 flights monitored in recent months, 66% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 22 minutes. The cancellation rate is 6.45%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 31.5/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Columbia the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Columbia: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Washington (DCA) to Columbia (CAE) heads south-west for about 657 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 14m.
Departures from Washington on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 40% of DCA-CAE flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Columbia it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 341 tracked DCA-CAE flights, 66% left on time with an average delay of 22 min and a 6.5% 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) | 74% | 16 min | 3.0% |
Airlines operating DCA-CAE
Airports
Frequently asked questions about DCA-CAE
On the Washington (DCA) -> Columbia (CAE) route, on-time performance is 66% with an average delay of 22 minutes, based on 341 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Washington-Columbia is 6.45% across 341 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 Columbia, 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.
