Oakland to Seattle

What the Data Says About OAK to SEA

The Oakland to Seattle corridor (OAK → SEA) covers roughly 672 miles and is served by 19 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 14,288 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 54.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,157 flights were recorded on this pairing — 30 cancelled (0.7%) and 0 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 19 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 14,288 total flights analyzed, the 82.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 54.1-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, Nov 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Jun 2024 came in at 64% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the OAK to SEA route, the combination of a 82.8% on-time rate, 54.1-minute average delay, 0.7% recent cancellation rate, and 19 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.