What is the TSA wait at DCA right now?
Observed security history for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is listed by hour. It is not a live reading. The current hour is chosen in the browser from that table.
HomeDistrict of ColumbiaDCA TSA wait times
Typical history
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport TSA wait times
DCA · KDCA · Washington, District of Columbia
Security wait
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The current hour is filled from the observed-hour table in this browser.
Observed security history for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is listed by hour. It is not a live reading. The current hour is chosen in the browser from that table.
Typical wait by hour
On Sundays, the quietest observed standard-lane hours are 12am (sample-weighted median 4 minutes) and 1am (sample-weighted median 4 minutes). The busiest observed hours are 4am (sample-weighted 75th percentile 6 minutes) and 7am (sample-weighted 75th percentile 6 minutes). Hours with no readings are left out, not treated as zero.
Standard lane only. Average and 75th percentile are sample-weighted from observed history. A gap means that hour had no readings.
PreCheck
Historical dataset includes a PreCheck lane.
CLEAR
CLEAR is not shown. We are not using a CLEAR source.
Departure delays
Historical on-time performance. Not a live delay.
73%
On-time departures, September 2025 through August 2026. A departure is on time when it left less than 15 minutes late.
Flights out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport left on time 73% of the time from September 2025 through August 2026. The largest share of delay minutes was late-arriving aircraft (49%). That is a share of delay minutes, not a share of flights. The average delay among departures that were 15 minutes or more late was 78 minutes. 4% of scheduled flights were cancelled.
The highest on-time month was September 2025 (80%). The lowest was July 2026 (64%).
| Cause | Delay minutes | Share of delay minutes |
|---|---|---|
| late-arriving aircraft | 1,440,411 | 49% |
| the airline | 730,651 | 25% |
| the national airspace system | 594,856 | 20% |
| weather | 166,565 | 6% |
| security | 5,517 | 0% |
When to be at the airport
TSA's published guidance is to arrive at the airport 2 hours before a domestic departure and 3 hours before an international departure. That is guidance, not a measured security wait.
Nearby airports
- Washington Dulles International Airport IAD · Dulles23 mi
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport BWI · Baltimore30 mi
- Hagerstown Regional Richard A Henson Field HGR · Hagerstown70 mi
- Dover Civil Air Terminal/Dover Air Force Base DOV · Dover87 mi
- Salisbury Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport SBY · Salisbury90 mi
Distances are straight-line miles.
Airport details
- Runways
- 3
- Longest runway
- 01/19, 7,169 ft
- Longest runway width
- 150 ft
- Longest runway surface
- ASPH
- Longest runway lighting
- HIGH
- Elevation
- 14.1 ft
- Control tower
- Yes
- CY2024 enplanements
- 12,750,892
- Facility use
- Public
- Ownership
- Public
- Part 139 certificate code
- I C
- Fuel
- A
- Airframe repair
- MINOR
- Powerplant repair
- MINOR
- Last inspection
- 2026/04/07
- PreCheck
- Historical dataset includes a PreCheck lane.
FAA facility record date 2026/10/01. Runways: BTS NTAD Runways. Facility facts: BTS NTAD Aviation Facilities. Enplanements: FAA CY2024 commercial service.
Questions
Does TSACheck have a live security wait for DCA?
A live figure is shown only when the stored airport feed is fresh. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) also has observed history. A stored value that is too old is not shown as live.
How often do flights leave DCA on time?
Flights out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport left on time 73% of the time from September 2025 through August 2026. The largest share of delay minutes was late-arriving aircraft (49%). That is a share of delay minutes, not a share of flights. The average delay among departures that were 15 minutes or more late was 78 minutes. 4% of scheduled flights were cancelled.
How early should I get to DCA?
TSA's published guidance is to arrive at the airport 2 hours before a domestic departure and 3 hours before an international departure. That is guidance, not a measured security wait.
Which airports are near DCA?
The nearest airports in this list are Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), 23 straight-line miles; Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), 30 straight-line miles; Hagerstown Regional Richard A Henson Field (HGR), 70 straight-line miles; Dover Civil Air Terminal/Dover Air Force Base (DOV), 87 straight-line miles; Salisbury Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY), 90 straight-line miles.