Seattle to Lihue

What the Data Says About SEA to LIH

The Seattle to Lihue corridor (SEA → LIH) covers roughly 2,701 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,275 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 57.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,163 flights were recorded on this pairing — 13 cancelled (0.6%) and 24 diverted (1.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,275 total flights analyzed, the 80.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 57.6-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 91% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 53% on-time — a 38-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SEA to LIH route, the combination of a 80.5% on-time rate, 57.6-minute average delay, 0.6% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.