Flights Washington → San Diego
IAD → SAN
Route overview
The flight route from Washington to San Diego operates with a high level of punctuality, achieving an on-time performance rate of 87%. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 327 flights using various aircraft models including Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737-800, Airbus A320, Boeing 757-200, and Airbus A319. The destination airport in San Diego, which opened in 1928, handles nearly 22 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) → San Diego (SAN) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 470 flights monitored in recent months, 89% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 3 minutes. The cancellation rate is 6.81%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 22.1/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At San Diego the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to San Diego: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Washington (IAD) to San Diego (SAN) heads west for about 3,618 km, a flight time of roughly 4h 57m.
Departures from Washington on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 48% of IAD-SAN flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into San Diego it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 470 tracked IAD-SAN flights, 89% left on time with an average delay of 3 min and a 6.8% 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-SAN
Airports
Frequently asked questions about IAD-SAN
On the Washington (IAD) -> San Diego (SAN) route, on-time performance is 89% with an average delay of 3 minutes, based on 470 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Washington-San Diego is 6.81% across 470 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 San Diego, 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.
