SEA to LAX flight delays
Seattle, WA (SEA) Los Angeles, CA (LAX) · 954 miles
651 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
85.03%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.46%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
53 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
9 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
This route does better than its own airport. Departures from SEA overall run 10.7 points less punctual than this particular one — so whatever congestion SEA has, this route is largely escaping it.
The two directions do not behave alike. LAX to SEA arrives on time 6.4 points less 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 Seattle to Los Angeles keep to schedule more reliably than most. On a route this punctual the day you fly matters more than the airline you pick.
The 2 airlines here are separated by under 1 point — close enough to call a tie. Choose on price and departure time.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Alaska Airlines arrived on time most often on SEA to LAX. Delta Air Lines was late most often.
Every airline on SEA to LAX
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 | 301 | 83.95% | 0.66% | 39 min | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 199 | 83.33% | 0.5% | 56 min | B |
| United Airlines | 60 | 93.33% | 0% | 130 min | — |
| SkyWest Airlines | 51 | 94.12% | 0% | 105 min | — |
| Frontier Airlines | 30 | 73.33% | 0% | 56 min | — |
| American Airlines | 10 | 90% | 0% | 149 min | — |
The return leg
LAX to SEA Los Angeles back to Seattle 78.67% on time COther routes from Seattle
Common questions
Are flights from Seattle to Los Angeles usually delayed?
85.03% of flights on the SEA to LAX route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 1 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Seattle to Los Angeles?
Alaska Airlines, at 83.95% on time across 301 flights. The least punctual on the route was Delta Air Lines at 83.33%.
How often are SEA to LAX flights cancelled?
0.46% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 5 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
When SEA to LAX flights are late, how late are they?
About 53 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 SEA to LAX during March 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 →