Washington (DCA) – Los Angeles (LAX)
- Distance
- 3,719 km
- 2,311 mi · 2,008 nm
- Flight time
- 5 h 39 min / 4 h 50 min
- Average gate to gate: DCA → LAX / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 434 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (257 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 441,202
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −3.5%
- Flights / week
- 55
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 88%
- 502,698 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 3
- AA, AS, DL
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DCA
- 275°
- Heading from LAX
- 69°
- Halfway point
- 38.24, -98.40
- Great-circle km
- 3,711 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DCA → LAX
- 5 h 5 min
- In the air LAX → DCA
- 4 h 26 min
- Clocks
- Los Angeles is 3 h behind Washington
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 10 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 38,910 |
| Sep 2025 | 36,280 |
| Oct 2025 | 37,405 |
| Nov 2025 | 35,430 |
| Dec 2025 | 38,445 |
| Jan 2026 | 34,957 |
| Feb 2026 | 33,563 |
| Mar 2026 | 39,413 |
| Apr 2026 | 36,902 |
| May 2026 | 38,027 |
| Jun 2026 | 36,154 |
| Jul 2026 | 35,716 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 243 |
| Sep 2025 | 238 |
| Oct 2025 | 248 |
| Nov 2025 | 233 |
| Dec 2025 | 242 |
| Jan 2026 | 231 |
| Feb 2026 | 222 |
| Mar 2026 | 245 |
| Apr 2026 | 234 |
| May 2026 | 237 |
| Jun 2026 | 233 |
| Jul 2026 | 230 |
Airlines flying DCA–LAX nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| AAAmerican Airlines | 27 | 54% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 14 | 23% |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 14 | 23% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 1,080 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 705 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 653 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 383 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 13 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 2 flights
Also carried: 21 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 78.1%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 17 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.5%
- Flights counted
- 2,908
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| AAAmerican Airlines | 79.8% | 15 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 73.5% | 18 min |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 79.3% | 23 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 40% · aircraft arriving late 27% · air traffic system 30% · weather 2% · security 1%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $366
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $362
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- American Airlines
- 47% of passengers · $380
- Lowest-fare airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 10% of passengers · $229
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $357 · Q3 2025 $344 · Q4 2025 $379 · Q1 2026 $366).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $373, likely $331–$425
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 86% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 4.4%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q1, typically 6% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 3,711 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Washington and Los Angeles
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports