Flights Washington → Columbia
IAD → CAE
Route overview
The flight route from Washington to Columbia operates with an average on-time performance rate of 83%, experiencing a mean delay of 15.9 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 193 flights serving a destination airport that handles around 1.06 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 Washington (IAD) → Columbia (CAE) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 249 flights monitored in recent months, 84% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 15 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.80%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 18.8/100 (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 (IAD) to Columbia (CAE) heads south-west for about 646 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 14m.
Departures from Washington on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 45% of IAD-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 249 tracked IAD-CAE flights, 84% left on time with an average delay of 15 min and a 0.8% 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 IAD-CAE
Airports
Frequently asked questions about IAD-CAE
On the Washington (IAD) -> Columbia (CAE) route, on-time performance is 84% with an average delay of 15 minutes, based on 249 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Washington-Columbia is 0.80% across 249 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 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.