Flights Seattle → Washington
SEA → IAD
How long is the flight from Seattle to Washington?
The flight from Seattle (SEA) to Washington (IAD) takes 4h 31m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 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 Washington operates with an average on-time performance of 82%, with flights typically experiencing a mean delay of 9.7 minutes. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 340 flights using aircraft such as the Boeing 757-200, Airbus A320, and various Boeing 737 models, serving a destination airport that handles nearly 21.4 million 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) → Washington (IAD) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 1083 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 2.77%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 25/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Washington the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Seattle the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Seattle (SEA) to Washington (IAD) heads east for about 3,702 km, a flight time of roughly 4h 31m.
Departures from Seattle on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 42% of SEA-IAD flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Seattle the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,083 tracked SEA-IAD flights, 81% left on time with an average delay of 11 min and a 2.8% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
Airlines operating SEA-IAD
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SEA-IAD
The flight from Seattle (SEA) to Washington (IAD) takes 4h 31m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Seattle (SEA) -> Washington (IAD) route, on-time performance is 81% with an average delay of 11 minutes, based on 1083 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Seattle-Washington is 2.77% across 1083 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Washington, 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.
