New York Washington
Four airlines cover New York to Washington across six airport pairs, and nearly every plane on the route is a regional jet. The whole corridor lands in under two hours.
If you are connecting through Reagan National, JetBlue out of JFK is the pick. It runs hourly, and the A220 is a real narrowbody with wider seats and more overhead space than the Embraer 175s and CRJ-900s everyone else flies here. From LaGuardia, American and Delta both run hourly to Reagan on regional jets with no difference between them. From Newark, United operates to Reagan several times a day.
If you are not connecting and your trip is city center to city center, take the Amtrak Acela from Penn Station. About three hours to Union Station. A flight looks faster on paper, but once you add the airport on each end, door-to-door runs four to five hours. The train is less hassle for about the same travel time.
If your connection is through Dulles, United flies from Newark and LaGuardia, and Delta covers it from JFK. The Newark to Dulles pairing is where United sometimes puts a 737 instead of a regional jet, so pick that if a bigger plane matters to you.
Reagan National has a Metro station inside the terminal. Dulles has the Silver Line, but that ride is close to an hour into the city. If you are choosing between a Reagan fare and a Dulles fare and the price gap is small, Reagan saves you time on the ground.
Have a specific need? Use the decision guide below to filter by your airline, where you live, lounges, or where you're staying in Washington.
Pick What Matters to You
Best pair by where you're coming from
Best pair by where you're staying in Washington
Which pair your airline flies nonstop
| Airline | JFK–DCA | EWR–IAD | EWR–DCA | LGA–DCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| CHG | — | — | — | — |
| GoJet Airlines | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Delta Air Lines | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| MTN | — | ✓ | — | — |
| GXA | — | ✓ | — | — |
| La Compagnie | — | — | — | — |
| JetBlue | ✓ | — | — | — |
| British Airways | — | — | — | — |
| Southwest Airlines | — | — | — | — |
| Alaska Airlines | ✓ | — | — | — |
| American Airlines | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
Ranked by on-time performance
Lounge access by airport and terminal
Ranked by flights per week
Getting to the airport
Red-eye vs daytime departures
Premium cabin options
Connecting through New York from a domestic flight
Flying between New York and Washington makes the most sense when one end is a connection. Reagan National feeds American and Delta hubs across the country. Dulles feeds United's domestic and international network. JFK and Newark handle international connections on the New York side. If both legs of your trip start and end in the cities themselves, the Acela from Penn Station to Union Station is faster than any itinerary through an airport.
New York & Washington Airport Profiles
Each airport has a personality. Terminal quality, transit access, lounge scene, and crowd levels vary dramatically — sometimes more than the flight itself.
New York Metro
JFK spreads across four active passenger terminals connected by the AirTrain, and walking between them is not an option. Terminal 1 is the old international building. Terminal 4 is the largest, handling most international carriers. Terminal 5 is the former TWA terminal, now JetBlue's home, with the mid-century curves still intact. Terminal 8 belongs to American and British Airways.
The terminal you depart from depends entirely on your airline. Security wait times vary between them. Terminal 4 tends to be the slowest during evening international departures. Terminal 8 has improved since the co-location of its two main carriers. The TWA Hotel sits adjacent to Terminal 5 if you need to sleep before an early departure or after a late arrival.
JFK feels enormous because it is. Budget extra time for the AirTrain if you are connecting between terminals or arriving by subway. The AirTrain loop takes 10 to 15 minutes end to end.
Newark Liberty has three terminals, and Terminal A opened as a full rebuild in 2023. The old Terminal A was demolished and replaced, and the difference is dramatic. Terminal C is United's hub, massive and busy, with most international flights departing from here. Terminal B handles most other carriers.
The AirTrain connects all three terminals and the NJ Transit / Amtrak rail station. Unlike JFK, the terminals are closer together and the AirTrain loop is faster. Security at Terminal C can back up during afternoon and evening international departures.
The airport sits in New Jersey, around 10 miles from Manhattan. That proximity is deceptive because the drive crosses the Hudson via the Newark Bay or Lincoln Tunnel, and both can be brutal during peak hours. NJ Transit from Penn Station is the more reliable option.
LaGuardia is the New York airport that does not pretend to be anything more than a domestic terminal. No international flights, no customs hall, no transatlantic gates competing for security lane capacity. The result is a faster, simpler airport experience than JFK or Newark for any flight that stays in the country. Eight miles from midtown Manhattan, it is also the closest major airport to the city center.
The rebuilt Terminal B replaced what was widely considered the worst major terminal in the country. The new building is bright and open, with real restaurants instead of the food court that used to define LaGuardia dining. Gates connect via an elevated pedestrian bridge with a clear sightline to the Manhattan skyline. Terminal C is equally compact. Neither terminal is large, and gate-to-gate walks stay under ten minutes.
Washington Metro
Reagan National sits on the Potomac River, five miles from the National Mall, with monument views on approach. The airport is compact. Terminals B and C handle most traffic, and the walk from security to any gate rarely takes more than ten minutes.
A Metro station connects directly to the terminals on the Blue and Yellow lines. The feel is of a well-run regional airport: shorter concourses, quicker security, and less distance to cover than the area's larger airports. Terminal C has been modernized with better food and more natural light.
Dulles sits 27 miles west of downtown Washington in the Virginia suburbs, connected to the city by the Silver Line Metro. The Saarinen-designed main terminal is the building on every postcard, but most gates are in the midfield concourses reached by the AeroTrain people mover.
Walking distances between concourses can be long. If you have a tight connection, check which concourse your gate is in before landing. Security lines can build during the late afternoon departure rush, but TSA PreCheck and Clear lanes move faster.
BWI sits between Baltimore and Washington, 32 miles from downtown DC and about 10 miles from downtown Baltimore. The airport has a single terminal building divided into concourses A through E, with a straightforward layout that keeps walking distances short.
The terminal is functional rather than flashy. Security checkpoints tend to move faster than at the larger DC-area airports, and the concourses rarely feel overcrowded. A free shuttle bus connects the terminal to the BWI rail station for MARC and Amtrak service.
No high-frequency connections found. Check BWI routes for all options.
Full Comparison
Every airport combination ranked by schedule depth. JFK–DCA carries 33% of weekly flights with the best on-time record. EWR–IAD adds another 14%. The remaining 6 pairs share 53% between them.
| Route | Airlines | Flights/Wk | Share | Duration | OTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JFK → DCA | 3 | 215 | 1h 37m | 31% | Explore → | |
| EWR → IAD | 1 | 92 | 1h 23m | 77% | Explore → | |
| EWR → DCA | 1 | 97 | 1h 23m | 77% | Explore → | |
| LGA → DCA | 2 | 96 | 1h 30m | 44% | Explore → | |
| JFK → IAD | 1 | 95 | 1h 48m | 31% | Explore → | |
| EWR → BWI | 3 | 2 | 1h 03m | 77% | Explore → | |
| LGA → IAD | 1 | 49 | 1h 26m | 44% | Explore → | |
| LGA → BWI | 2 | 1 | 1h 05m | 44% | Explore → |
Which Airlines Fly Which Pairs
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines serve both JFK and LGA to DCA — airport flexibility on the New York side.
Not all planes are the same size. The aircraft type below each checkmark tells you whether you are getting a widebody (777, 787, A350) with wider seats and a quieter ride, or a narrowbody (737, A321) with a single aisle. On flights over five hours, the difference is significant.
E175
E175
A220-300
E175
757-200
A220-300, CRJ-900
737-900, 777-200
CR5, CR7
E175
CR7
A320
C208