Washington (DCA) – Phoenix (PHX)
- Distance
- 3,184 km
- 1,978 mi · 1,719 nm
- Flight time
- 4 h 59 min / 4 h 11 min
- Average gate to gate: DCA → PHX / back
- Time difference
- 2 h / 3 h
- January / July
- CO2 per passenger
- 400 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (236 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 353,063
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −4.0%
- Flights / week
- 41
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 87%
- 405,647 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 1
- AA
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
- 270°
- Heading from PHX
- 69°
- Halfway point
- 37.45, -95.14
- Great-circle km
- 3,177 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DCA → PHX
- 4 h 28 min
- In the air PHX → DCA
- 3 h 47 min
- Clocks
- 2 h in January, 3 h in July
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 35 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 30,334 |
| Sep 2025 | 29,064 |
| Oct 2025 | 30,569 |
| Nov 2025 | 26,144 |
| Dec 2025 | 31,348 |
| Jan 2026 | 27,772 |
| Feb 2026 | 27,603 |
| Mar 2026 | 32,395 |
| Apr 2026 | 30,351 |
| May 2026 | 31,217 |
| Jun 2026 | 28,722 |
| Jul 2026 | 27,544 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 183 |
| Sep 2025 | 177 |
| Oct 2025 | 182 |
| Nov 2025 | 168 |
| Dec 2025 | 180 |
| Jan 2026 | 171 |
| Feb 2026 | 168 |
| Mar 2026 | 182 |
| Apr 2026 | 180 |
| May 2026 | 183 |
| Jun 2026 | 176 |
| Jul 2026 | 172 |
Airlines flying DCA–PHX nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| AAAmerican Airlines | 41 | 100% |
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 · 1,675 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 380 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 37 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 30 flights
Also carried: 11 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 82.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 16 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.5%
- Flights counted
- 2,172
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
Delay minutes by cause: airline 32% · aircraft arriving late 46% · air traffic system 19% · weather 3% · security 0%.
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
- $371
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $337
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- American Airlines
- 82% of passengers · $390
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 3% of passengers · $151
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $328 · Q3 2025 $300 · Q4 2025 $339 · Q1 2026 $371).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $379, likely $328–$432
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 4.3%). 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 5% 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: 3,177 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 Phoenix
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports