Flights Seattle → Houston
SEA → IAH
How long is the flight from Seattle to Houston?
The flight from Seattle (SEA) to Houston (IAH) takes 3h 58m on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from Seattle to Houston operates with an average on-time performance rate of 82%, with flights typically experiencing a mean delay of 7.5 minutes. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 406 flights using a variety of aircraft including Airbus A320s, Boeing 737-900s, Boeing 737-800s, Airbus A319s, and Boeing 757-200s, serving the highly trafficked Houston airport which accommodates nearly 40,979,422 passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Seattle (SEA) → Houston (IAH) route is operated by Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines. Across 1226 flights monitored in recent months, 81% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 11 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.96%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 20.7/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Houston the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Seattle the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Houston: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Seattle (SEA) to Houston (IAH) heads south-east for about 3,013 km, a flight time of roughly 3h 58m.
Departures from Seattle on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 42% of SEA-IAH flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Seattle the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Houston it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,226 tracked SEA-IAH flights, 81% left on time with an average delay of 11 min and a 2.0% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 85% | 1 min | 0.8% |
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 85% | -1 min | 0.5% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
Airlines operating SEA-IAH
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SEA-IAH
The flight from Seattle (SEA) to Houston (IAH) takes 3h 58m on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Seattle (SEA) -> Houston (IAH) route, on-time performance is 81% with an average delay of 11 minutes, based on 1226 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Seattle-Houston is 1.96% across 1226 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 3 airlines: Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Houston, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
