Flight profile · Alaska Airlines
AS502
Seattle (SEA) to Austin (AUS) · scheduled 7:47 AM – 2:35 PM
How AS502 performs
1,086 operations, July 2023 – August 2026.
Between its first and last recorded date on SEA → AUS, AS502 averaged about one operation a day or more (1,086 in 1,158 days, cancelled ones included).
AS502 arrived on time 81.2% of the time, against 76.8% for all SEA → AUS flights, so this departure is 4.4 percentage points better than the route as a whole. Against Alaska Airlines’ own flights on this route it is 6.7 points better.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · 1,086 operations, July 2023 – August 2026 · If AS502 is cancelled or significantly changed, DOT’s automatic refund rule may entitle you to your money back. The refund checker walks through eligibility.
Where AS502 is right now
A live reading, only if you ask for it. It is not part of the reliability record above.
Ask for the position of AS502 right now, if receivers on the ground are hearing it. Nothing is requested until you press the button.
Against the rest of the route
| Flight or route | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS502 | 81.2% | 1.29% | -3 min | 2.7% | 1,086 |
| Alaska Airlines on SEA → AUS | 74.5% | 0.60% | 0 min | 4.6% | 3,691 |
| All SEA → AUS flights | 76.8% | 0.60% | -3 min | 5.6% | 6,622 |
AS502 cancelled 14 of 1,086 operations (1.29%), above the 0.60% for SEA → AUS.
2.7% of AS502’s arrivals were an hour or more late, against 5.6% across SEA → AUS, so the long delays are less common on this number than on the route.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – August 2026
Why AS502 runs late
Where US DOT attributed the delay minutes on this flight.
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for AS502 on SEA → AUS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – August 2026
Does a late aircraft delay this flight?
How often the plane that flies AS502 comes in late, and what that does to the departure.
When the aircraft came in 15 or more minutes late, AS502 pushed back an average of 6 minutes late; when it came in on time or early, an average of 2 minutes late.
Matched by tail number to the aircraft’s previous flight into SEA: 902 of 1,073 departures. Unknown, cancelled or diverted inbounds and gaps over 12 hours are left out.
Against the network at the same turn length
| Share of departures | Inbound landed 15+ late | Left 15+ late after a late inbound | Left 15+ late after an on-time inbound |
|---|---|---|---|
| AS502 | 22% | 24% | 13% |
| Network, same turn | 23% | 40% | 9% |
A long gap on the ground gives a late aircraft room to catch up before this flight pushes back.
The network row is every flight with a scheduled turn of 90 minutes to 3 hours. How often AS502’s aircraft landed 15 or more minutes late is about the same as the network’s and, once the aircraft was late, how often AS502 left 15 or more minutes late is lower than the network’s.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – August 2026
From pushback to gate
When it leaves SEA late, does that still matter by the time it reaches AUS?
On arrival at AUS, AS502 spends 13.8 min taxiing from touchdown to the gate — ground time a connecting passenger sits through before they can even leave the aircraft, on top of however late the flight itself ran. That is 5.5 minutes longer than a typical AUS arrival (8.3 min).
Taxi-out is gate to wheels up and sits inside the scheduled block; the hourly comparison is 44,199 SEA departures. Taxi-in is landing to gate, set against 280,105 arrivals at AUS. More on taxi time.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – August 2026
The hour it leaves SEA
AS502 has one departure time, 7:47 AM, so this is what that hour at SEA is worth.
On-time arrival rate. 44,199 departures from SEA are scheduled in the 7 AM–8 AM hour over the period, against 526,113 across the whole day.
AS502 is scheduled out of SEA at 7:47 AM, in the 7 AM–8 AM bank. Departures from SEA in that hour arrive on time 85.1% of the time against 78.9% across the airport’s whole day — the slot alone is worth 6.1 points better before anything about this particular flight is considered.
Both airport figures cover every destination from SEA, so they describe the slot, not this journey; the route comparison is above. Why the hour matters.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – August 2026 · Hours below 120 departures are not scored.
By day of week
Does AS502 run worse on particular days?
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Saturday the least, a gap of 13.2 percentage points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – August 2026 · Days with fewer than 120 operations are not scored.
Other routes AS502 has flown
Carriers reassign flight numbers. AS502 also served these 2 other city pairs in the period.
| Route | Operated | Flights | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEA→LAX Seattle to Los Angeles | June 10, 2026 – August 18, 2026 | 70 | — |
| AUS→SEA Austin to Seattle | May 13, 2026 – June 9, 2026 | 28 | — |
The figures above describe only SEA → AUS, the route AS502 flies now.
When it goes wrong
The average describes a usual day. This is the day that ruins a connection.
25 min late
against a median of 3 min early
Percentiles over 1,086 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – August 2026
Other flights on this route
Same airports, same journey, different odds of arriving on time.
| Flight | Airline | On time | Median arrival | Operations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL739 | Delta Air Lines | 87.0% | 11 min early | 712 |
| AS502 this flight | Alaska Airlines | 81.2% | 3 min early | 1,086 |
| DL831 | Delta Air Lines | 77.1% | 6 min early | 708 |
| DL848 | Delta Air Lines | 75.5% | 4 min early | 636 |
| AS318 | Alaska Airlines | 70.0% | 3 min late | 646 |
Among all 5 departures on this route with at least 600 operations, AS502 has the 2nd highest on-time rate, 5.8 points behind the best. Every departure here has at least 600 operations; the other rows are the most punctual on the route, not all of them.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 1,086 records of AS502 operating SEA → AUS, published by the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule; cancelled and diverted flights are reported separately, not in the on-time rate.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: Most and Least Reliable Flight Numbers · The Delay You Inherit · Making Up Time in the Air
Analysis last recomputed