Los Angeles to Seattle

What the Data Says About LAX to SEA

The Los Angeles to Seattle corridor (LAX → SEA) covers roughly 954 miles and is served by 43 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 41,819 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 63.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 14,778 flights were recorded on this pairing — 149 cancelled (1.0%) and 12 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 43 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 41,819 total flights analyzed, the 86.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 63.4-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Sep 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Jun 2025 came in at 77% on-time — a 15-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the LAX to SEA route, the combination of a 86.2% on-time rate, 63.4-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 43 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.