DCA to SEA flight delays
Washington, VA (DCA) Seattle, WA (SEA) · 2,329 miles
1,094 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
73.2%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.74%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
70 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
20 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. Alaska Airlines arrived on time 10.6 points more often than Delta Air Lines over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The season swings this route hard. In August it ran 40.6 points more punctual than in December — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The two directions do not behave alike. SEA to DCA arrives on time 8.4 points more often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
Flights from Washington to Seattle run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Alaska Airlines arrived on time most often on DCA to SEA. Delta Air Lines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in August and worst in December.
Every airline on DCA to SEA
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 729 | 76.71% | 1.1% | 54 min | C |
| Delta Air Lines | 365 | 66.1% | 3.01% | 92 min | F |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
SEA to DCA Seattle back to Washington 81.64% on time COther routes from Washington
Common questions
Are flights from Washington to Seattle usually delayed?
73.2% of flights on the DCA to SEA route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Washington to Seattle?
Alaska Airlines, at 76.71% on time across 729 flights. The least punctual on the route was Delta Air Lines at 66.1%.
How often are DCA to SEA flights cancelled?
1.74% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 17 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Washington to Seattle?
August, when 85.7% of flights arrived on time. The worst was December at 45.1%.
When DCA to SEA flights are late, how late are they?
About 70 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on DCA to SEA during January 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →