Route profile
SNA→SEA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Santa Ana to Seattle, 978 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 89% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 12,459 flights. How this is calculated
SNA → SEA arrives on time 85.5% of the time; the return trip, SEA → SNA, arrives on time 85.3% of the time.
SNA → SEA spends 28.1 minutes on the ground on a 978-mile trip: 15.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SNA and 12.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at SEA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
Why SNA → SEA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SNA → SEA cancelled 138 of 12,459 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 90. The reason filed most often was the airline, 76.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 119 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 138 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
105 cancellations, 76.1% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
28 cancellations, 20.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
5 cancellations, 3.6% of the total.
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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
138 coded cancellations were recorded on SNA → SEA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
23 min late
against a median of 10 min early
Percentiles over 12,459 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SEA after arriving from SNA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 30% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 8.0% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 3.9% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 2.2% | 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 1.11% of the time and diverts 0.10% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 12,309 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 23 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 12,459 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SNA → SEA flights departing 9 PM–5 AM arrived on time 93.1% of the time, against 80.1% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 13.0 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (SNA).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 4.8 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.6 points.
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
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| 7 PM–8 PM |
On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 65–69
- 70–74
- 75–79
- 80–84
- 85–89
- 90–94
- 95–99
- 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 8 PM (645 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 86.7% on time160 flights | 83.8% on time148 flights | 95.9% on time149 flights | 91.0% on time158 flights | 89.0% on time158 flights | 90.5% on time150 flights | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 86.0% on time178 flights | 89.5% on time182 flights | 93.4% on time181 flights | 87.6% on time178 flights | 88.7% on time179 flights | 92.8% on time182 flights | 82.8% on time175 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 90.8% on time144 flights | 93.6% on time142 flights | 88.9% on time144 flights | 92.1% on time141 flights | 87.9% on time143 flights | 90.1% on time141 flights | 90.8% on time254 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 46 flights, too few to score | 47 flights, too few to score | 47 flights, too few to score | 46 flights, too few to score | 45 flights, too few to score | 45 flights, too few to score | 84 flights, too few to score |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 87.6% on time153 flights | 90.8% on time142 flights | 92.6% on time149 flights | 88.6% on time159 flights | 92.9% on time158 flights | 86.6% on time136 flights | 83.4% on time146 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 82.8% on time208 flights | 88.6% on time204 flights | 89.6% on time193 flights | 87.2% on time198 flights | 87.1% on time206 flights | 87.9% on time204 flights | 81.5% on time205 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 55 flights, too few to score | 52 flights, too few to score | 53 flights, too few to score | 56 flights, too few to score | 54 flights, too few to score | 60 flights, too few to score | 56 flights, too few to score |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 39 flights, too few to score | 28 flights, too few to score | 30 flights, too few to score | 41 flights, too few to score | 38 flights, too few to score | 21 flights, too few to score | 37 flights, too few to score |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 110 flights, too few to score | 105 flights, too few to score | 104 flights, too few to score | 106 flights, too few to score | 109 flights, too few to score | 89 flights, too few to score | 102 flights, too few to score |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 84.5% on time161 flights | 86.1% on time166 flights | 84.2% on time165 flights | 86.5% on time157 flights | 74.8% on time157 flights | 86.2% on time162 flights | 83.8% on time145 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 25 flights, too few to score | 24 flights, too few to score | 25 flights, too few to score | 27 flights, too few to score | 30 flights, too few to score | 28 flights, too few to score | 45 flights, too few to score |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 85.4% on time159 flights | 88.9% on time154 flights | 87.8% on time149 flights | 72.9% on time157 flights | 79.9% on time157 flights | 89.1% on time138 flights | 77.4% on time156 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 78.3% on time122 flights | 115 flights, too few to score | 116 flights, too few to score | 118 flights, too few to score | 70.0% on time122 flights | 54 flights, too few to score | 116 flights, too few to score |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 76.8% on time196 flights | 85.3% on time175 flights | 83.8% on time181 flights | 77.6% on time194 flights | 74.2% on time184 flights | 100 flights, too few to score | 68.0% on time181 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 89.5% on time from 923 flights
- 7 AM: 88.7% on time from 1,255 flights
- 8 AM: 90.6% on time from 1,109 flights
- 9 AM: 90.5% on time from 360 flights
- 10 AM: 89.0% on time from 1,043 flights
- 11 AM: 86.4% on time from 1,418 flights
- 12 PM: 88.6% on time from 386 flights
- 1 PM: 75.5% on time from 234 flights
- 2 PM: 83.6% on time from 725 flights
- 3 PM: 83.8% on time from 1,113 flights
- 4 PM: 77.2% on time from 204 flights
- 5 PM: 82.9% on time from 1,070 flights
- 6 PM: 77.4% on time from 763 flights
- 7 PM: 78.0% on time from 1,211 flights
- 8 PM: 92.0% on time from 382 flights
- 9 PM: 93.1% on time from 263 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SNA → SEA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for SNA → SEA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SNA → SEA, at 43.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 9 PM–5 AM departures arrived on time 93.1% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 80.1%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of SNA to SEA: 2.0 times the normal rate at SNA and 1.9 times at SEA. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: SNA 1.9% against 1.0%, SEA 1.5% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave SEA in bad weather arrived on time 75.4% of the time, against 79.3% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | SNA | SEA |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 1.9% | 1.5% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 1.0% | 0.8% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 83.6% | 75.4% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 81.3% | 79.3% |
| Departures in bad weather | 7,919 | 43,416 |
Of the carriers on this route, Delta Air Lines (0.6% cancelled against 2.3% for the other carriers at SNA) cancelled the fewest departures from SNA in bad weather and SkyWest Airlines (4.1% cancelled against 1.9% for the other carriers at SNA) the most.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at SNA
All departures from SNA| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 935 | 0.6%below the others | 2.3% |
| Alaska Airlines | 797 | 2.5%about level | 1.9% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 613 | 4.1%above the others | 1.9% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from SNA and SEA, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from SNA on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: SNA (airlines), 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.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 8,365 | 86.4% | 1.30% | -9 min | 3.2% |
| Delta Air Lines | 3,452 | 84.5% | 0.78% | -14 min | 5.8% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 642 | 80.1% | 0.31% | -1 min | 3.8% |
Alaska Airlines flew 67.1% of the 12,459 flights listed.
Alaska Airlines arrived on time 6.3 percentage points more often than SkyWest Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Seattle
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX→SEA Los Angeles to Seattle | 23,177 | 84.8% | 0.84% | -10 min | 82 |
| SNA→SEA this route Santa Ana to Seattle | 12,459 | 85.5% | 1.11% | -10 min | 81 |
Flying to SEA from the Los Angeles area? Compare SNA, LAX, BUR, ONT for SEA, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AS1325 Alaska Airlines | 6:45 AM | 643 | 92.9% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 84.6%
- Feb: 89.0%
- Mar: 86.0%
- Apr: 89.0%
- May: 84.9%
- Jun: 77.5%
- Jul: 83.2%
- Aug: 82.3%
- Sep: 87.2%
- Oct: 89.2%
- Nov: 89.8%
- Dec: 85.8%
June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 12.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 87.7% from 395 flights
- August 2023: 88.4% from 398 flights
- September 2023: 88.1% from 383 flights
- October 2023: 91.1% from 396 flights
- November 2023: 89.0% from 375 flights
- December 2023: 92.2% from 339 flights
- January 2024: 79.0% from 339 flights
- February 2024: 90.2% from 311 flights
- March 2024: 84.3% from 308 flights
- April 2024: 87.6% from 308 flights
- May 2024: 88.1% from 340 flights
- June 2024: 83.4% from 332 flights
- July 2024: 86.2% from 351 flights
- August 2024: 83.0% from 357 flights
- September 2024: 84.7% from 343 flights
- October 2024: 88.4% from 348 flights
- November 2024: 88.6% from 327 flights
- December 2024: 84.1% from 314 flights
- January 2025: 85.5% from 300 flights
- February 2025: 86.7% from 260 flights
- March 2025: 88.5% from 290 flights
- April 2025: 89.1% from 304 flights
- May 2025: 75.7% from 348 flights
- June 2025: 69.2% from 359 flights
- July 2025: 80.3% from 378 flights
- August 2025: 74.9% from 358 flights
- September 2025: 89.0% from 330 flights
- October 2025: 87.7% from 341 flights
- November 2025: 92.0% from 329 flights
- December 2025: 80.6% from 319 flights
- January 2026: 89.9% from 312 flights
- February 2026: 89.6% from 282 flights
- March 2026: 85.3% from 308 flights
- April 2026: 90.3% from 301 flights
- May 2026: 90.9% from 353 flights
- June 2026: 80.5% from 354 flights
- July 2026: 78.5% from 369 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 85.5% against 83.3% in the 12 months before — improving by 2.2 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 12,459 SNA → 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
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed