Flights Washington → Houston
DCA → HOU
Route overview
The flight route from Washington to Houston has a 69% on-time performance rate, with an average delay of 15 minutes when flights are not on time. Over the past year, this route has seen 260 total flights departing from Washington's historic airport, which opened in 1938, heading towards Houston's busy airport that serves over 13,908,466 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 Washington (DCA) → Houston (HOU) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 343 flights monitored in recent months, 71% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 15 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.33%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 21.7/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Houston the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Houston: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Washington (DCA) to Houston (HOU) heads south-west for about 1,959 km, a flight time of roughly 2h 52m.
Departures from Washington on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 35% of DCA-HOU flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Houston it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 343 tracked DCA-HOU flights, 71% left on time with an average delay of 15 min and a 2.3% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines (WN) | 73% | 6 min | 3.1% |
Airlines operating DCA-HOU
Airports
Frequently asked questions about DCA-HOU
On the Washington (DCA) -> Houston (HOU) route, on-time performance is 71% with an average delay of 15 minutes, based on 343 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Washington-Houston is 2.33% across 343 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: Southwest Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Houston, 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.
