ANC → SEA Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · ANCNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:53 UTC

Anchorage airport profile →

Destination · SEANo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:53 UTC

Seattle airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

82/ 100Strong

Better than 91% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 22,352 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

84.8%

18,788 of 22,145

Cancellation rate

0.85%

191 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-8 min

Average -1.3 min

Severe delays

3.6%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

56 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

22,352

2 carriers

ANC → SEA arrives on time 84.8% of the time; the return trip, SEA → ANC, arrives on time 75.8% of the time, a 9.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

ANC → SEA spends 26.9 minutes on the ground on a 1,448-mile trip: 15.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ANC and 11.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at SEA.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

Every day of the week performs about the same on this route, steadier than 98% of 4,467 comparable routes.

86.9% on time on the best day (Wednesday) against 83.6% on the worst (Saturday).

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,467 in the comparison.

Why ANC → SEA flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

ANC → SEA cancelled 191 of 22,352 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 117. The reason filed most often was the airline, 80.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 146 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Airline80.1%

Weather17.3%

Air traffic2.6%

Security0.0%

Of 191 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

The airline1 in 146

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

153 cancellations, 80.1% of the total.

Extreme weather1 in 677

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

33 cancellations, 17.3% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 4,470

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

5 cancellations, 2.6% of the total.

Security—

A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.

0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.

Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

191 coded cancellations were recorded on ANC → SEA; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

24 min late

against a median of 8 min early

Arrived an hour or more late3.6%

Typical delay when late56 min

Cancelled0.85%

Landed somewhere else0.07%

Percentiles over 22,352 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at SEA after arriving from ANC.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, ANC → SEA arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	32%	Likely to miss
45 min	14%	Some risk
60 min	7.7%	Some risk
90 min	3.5%	Low risk
120 min	1.9%	Low risk

This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 0.85% of the time and diverts 0.07% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 22,145 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.

The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 24 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 22,352 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

ANC → SEA flights departing 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 89.5% of the time, against 77.4% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 12.1 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (ANC).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 4.7 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 1.0 points.

On-time arrival rate for ANC to SEA by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
12 AM–1 AM
1 AM–2 AM
2 AM–3 AM
3 AM–4 AM
4 AM–5 AM
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

68–71
72–75
76–79
80–83
84–87
88–91
92–95

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures after 6 PM (1,118 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for ANC to SEA. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
12 AM–1 AM	87.7% on time272 flights	86.3% on time256 flights	88.8% on time252 flights	90.1% on time266 flights	89.5% on time281 flights	87.7% on time272 flights	85.8% on time262 flights
1 AM–2 AM	81.3% on time341 flights	81.8% on time339 flights	87.9% on time327 flights	88.1% on time341 flights	86.7% on time356 flights	83.3% on time337 flights	83.1% on time337 flights
2 AM–3 AM	77.8% on time186 flights	75.7% on time170 flights	82.4% on time178 flights	81.3% on time178 flights	77.7% on time195 flights	72.8% on time178 flights	76.8% on time193 flights
3 AM–4 AM	18 flights, too few to score	18 flights, too few to score	18 flights, too few to score	18 flights, too few to score	21 flights, too few to score	8 flights, too few to score	20 flights, too few to score
4 AM–5 AM	1 flight, too few to score	2 flights, too few to score	2 flights, too few to score	1 flight, too few to score	2 flights, too few to score	2 flights, too few to score	2 flights, too few to score
5 AM–6 AM	90.2% on time165 flights	92.0% on time163 flights	91.6% on time166 flights	87.5% on time168 flights	90.1% on time172 flights	92.2% on time143 flights	90.0% on time173 flights
6 AM–7 AM	89.3% on time294 flights	87.9% on time308 flights	90.0% on time312 flights	87.4% on time295 flights	86.6% on time295 flights	87.5% on time304 flights	87.5% on time298 flights
7 AM–8 AM	87.4% on time160 flights	93.0% on time142 flights	117 flights, too few to score	82.6% on time161 flights	87.6% on time186 flights	85.8% on time141 flights	85.7% on time156 flights
8 AM–9 AM	88.2% on time153 flights	89.5% on time162 flights	94.1% on time152 flights	90.3% on time165 flights	92.9% on time160 flights	88.4% on time146 flights	89.3% on time168 flights
9 AM–10 AM	89.1% on time149 flights	92.5% on time150 flights	93.2% on time149 flights	88.4% on time156 flights	87.8% on time150 flights	93.7% on time130 flights	89.1% on time141 flights
10 AM–11 AM	88.6% on time184 flights	88.6% on time166 flights	91.2% on time170 flights	91.3% on time164 flights	89.8% on time188 flights	83.6% on time156 flights	90.6% on time194 flights
11 AM–12 PM	83.7% on time136 flights	92.2% on time130 flights	92 flights, too few to score	87.5% on time129 flights	86.4% on time129 flights	90 flights, too few to score	114 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	85.7% on time150 flights	86.5% on time151 flights	89.6% on time145 flights	88.4% on time148 flights	82.5% on time145 flights	113 flights, too few to score	89.0% on time150 flights
1 PM–2 PM	84.4% on time161 flights	88.5% on time130 flights	85.2% on time136 flights	83.0% on time168 flights	88.7% on time151 flights	84.4% on time137 flights	83.6% on time143 flights
2 PM–3 PM	80.3% on time235 flights	83.0% on time238 flights	86.8% on time220 flights	76.9% on time213 flights	86.3% on time228 flights	81.5% on time228 flights	87.9% on time240 flights
3 PM–4 PM	83.1% on time167 flights	71.4% on time126 flights	77.8% on time135 flights	80.1% on time148 flights	81.4% on time173 flights	79.8% on time122 flights	80.1% on time156 flights
4 PM–5 PM	75.0% on time154 flights	79.5% on time167 flights	82.9% on time148 flights	70.3% on time139 flights	83.0% on time148 flights	78.9% on time145 flights	75.5% on time139 flights
5 PM–6 PM	74.9% on time204 flights	78.4% on time200 flights	78.2% on time207 flights	74.8% on time203 flights	74.9% on time195 flights	71.2% on time179 flights	75.0% on time207 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM88.6%

9 AM–12 PM89.5%

12–3 PM84.8%

3–6 PM77.4%

6–9 PM79.3%

9 PM–5 AM84.3%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why ANC → SEA runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

The airline42.6%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Late-arriving aircraft33.4%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control17.5%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather6.3%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.2%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for ANC → SEA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of ANC to SEA: 1.9 times the normal rate at ANC and 1.9 times at SEA. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: ANC 1.9% against 1.0%, SEA 1.5% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave ANC in bad weather arrived on time 72.9% of the time, against 85.1% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from ANC and SEA in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	ANC	SEA
Cancelled in bad weather	1.9%	1.5%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.0%	0.8%
Arrived on time, bad weather	72.9%	75.4%
Arrived on time, normal hours	85.1%	79.3%
Departures in bad weather	6,631	43,416

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from ANC and SEA, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad.

Weather source and limits. In full: ANC, SEA, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
Alaska Airlines	17,120	83.7%	0.99%	-6 min	3.4%
Delta Air Lines	5,070	90.3%	0.36%	-16 min	3.7%

Alaska Airlines flew 77.2% of the 22,190 flights listed.

Delta Air Lines arrived on time 6.6 percentage points more often than Alaska Airlines on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
DL853 Delta Air Lines	6:00 AM	1,061	91.7%
DL925 Delta Air Lines	1:20 AM	995	88.2%
AS48 Alaska Airlines	8:00 AM	935	88.0%
AS82 Alaska Airlines	6:00 AM	706	84.5%
AS226 Alaska Airlines	2:20 PM	706	79.9%

DL853 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 91.7% of the time, 11.8 points more often than AS226 (2:20 PM) at 79.9%.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon84.0%

Tue85.0%

Wed86.9%

Thu84.3%

Fri85.7%

Sat83.6%

Sun84.5%

Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Saturday the least, a gap of 3.3 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and May the strongest, a spread of 10.9 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 86.0% against 85.5% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 22,352 ANC → SEA flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.

Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

ANC airport SEA airport Return direction SEA → ANC

ANC→SEA

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why ANC → SEA flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why ANC → SEA runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology