Seattle to New York

What the Data Says About SEA to JFK

The Seattle to New York corridor (SEA → JFK) covers roughly 2,422 miles and is served by 8 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 16,268 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 70.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,820 flights were recorded on this pairing — 90 cancelled (1.5%) and 33 diverted (0.6%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 8 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 16,268 total flights analyzed, the 77.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 70.6-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 93% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 52% on-time — a 42-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SEA to JFK route, the combination of a 77.3% on-time rate, 70.6-minute average delay, 1.5% recent cancellation rate, and 8 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.