Your flight out of Dulles is more likely to leave on time than from almost any other airport in the country.
Year-to-date figures released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) showed that Dulles International Airport (IAD) made the top five airports for on-time departures.
Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) trailed behind at No. 16 and No. 20, respectively.
Flights that arrive or depart from the gate within 15 minutes after their scheduled times are considered on time.
IAD ranked No. 5 for flights leaving on time, with a score of 81.22%. It follows Portland International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
However, when it comes to arrivals, IAD was No. 12, with a score of 78.74%. BWI ranked No. 8 and DCA came in No. 21.
According to BTS, previous flights arriving late was the most common reason for airline flight delays every year from 2004 to 2018. The second most common reason for delay last year was air carrier delays, followed by National Aviation System delays, extreme weather and security delays.
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The late arrival of a previous flight with the same aircraft causes the next flight to depart late. This creates a domino effect that leads to the No. 1 cause of late departures, according to the BTS website.
Dulles has seen its domestic and international travelers increase over the past year, News4's Adam Tuss said.
BWI remains the busiest airport out of the three for the past four years, surpassing DCA and IAD.
