Washington (DCA) – New Orleans (MSY)
- Distance
- 1,560 km
- 970 mi · 843 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 45 min / 2 h 28 min
- Average gate to gate: DCA → MSY / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 196 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (116 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 310,982
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −1.9%
- Flights / week
- 73
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 72%
- 432,568 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- WN, AA, OH
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
- 235°
- Heading from MSY
- 47°
- Halfway point
- 34.60, -84.00
- Great-circle km
- 1,560 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DCA → MSY
- 2 h 19 min
- In the air MSY → DCA
- 2 h 6 min
- Clocks
- New Orleans is 1 h behind Washington
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 40 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 23,663 |
| Sep 2025 | 22,078 |
| Oct 2025 | 30,908 |
| Nov 2025 | 25,044 |
| Dec 2025 | 27,056 |
| Jan 2026 | 23,669 |
| Feb 2026 | 25,708 |
| Mar 2026 | 31,197 |
| Apr 2026 | 26,392 |
| May 2026 | 26,440 |
| Jun 2026 | 25,234 |
| Jul 2026 | 23,593 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 286 |
| Sep 2025 | 284 |
| Oct 2025 | 306 |
| Nov 2025 | 332 |
| Dec 2025 | 348 |
| Jan 2026 | 322 |
| Feb 2026 | 322 |
| Mar 2026 | 361 |
| Apr 2026 | 354 |
| May 2026 | 332 |
| Jun 2026 | 270 |
| Jul 2026 | 254 |
Airlines flying DCA–MSY nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 27 | 46% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 17 | 26% |
| OHPSA Airlines | 21 | 20% |
| YXRepublic Airline | 7.9 | 8% |
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
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 911 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 832 flights
- Canadair RJ-700 · 585 flights
- Canadair CRJ 900 · 512 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 409 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 264 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 253 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 3 flights
Also carried: 25 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 72%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 23 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 3%
- Flights counted
- 3,895
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 69.5% | 20 min |
| OHPSA Airlines | 70.1% | 32 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 73.3% | 22 min |
| YXRepublic Airline | 82.7% | 8 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 26% · aircraft arriving late 50% · air traffic system 15% · weather 8% · 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
- $268
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $238
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- American Airlines
- 52% of passengers · $275
- Lowest-fare airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 43% of passengers · $257
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $228 · Q3 2025 $209 · Q4 2025 $241 · Q1 2026 $268).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $274, likely $237–$312
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 90% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 5%). 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: Q3, 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: 1,560 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 New Orleans
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports