Detroit (DTW) – Seattle (SEA)
- Distance
- 3,101 km
- 1,927 mi · 1,675 nm
- Flight time
- 4 h 57 min / 4 h 10 min
- Average gate to gate: DTW → SEA / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 389 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (230 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 682,151
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +0.9%
- Flights / week
- 79
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 89%
- 764,410 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- DL, AS
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DTW
- 294°
- Heading from SEA
- 86°
- Halfway point
- 46.52, -101.91
- Great-circle km
- 3,093 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DTW → SEA
- 4 h 26 min
- In the air SEA → DTW
- 3 h 39 min
- Clocks
- Seattle is 3 h behind Detroit
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 25 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 73,633 |
| Sep 2025 | 57,622 |
| Oct 2025 | 51,860 |
| Nov 2025 | 48,445 |
| Dec 2025 | 52,404 |
| Jan 2026 | 40,779 |
| Feb 2026 | 38,914 |
| Mar 2026 | 46,103 |
| Apr 2026 | 48,724 |
| May 2026 | 69,276 |
| Jun 2026 | 75,994 |
| Jul 2026 | 78,397 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 425 |
| Sep 2025 | 353 |
| Oct 2025 | 317 |
| Nov 2025 | 312 |
| Dec 2025 | 326 |
| Jan 2026 | 267 |
| Feb 2026 | 249 |
| Mar 2026 | 290 |
| Apr 2026 | 311 |
| May 2026 | 406 |
| Jun 2026 | 419 |
| Jul 2026 | 430 |
Airlines flying DTW–SEA nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 58 | 75% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 21 | 25% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Boeing 737-900ER · 2,361 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 402 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 400 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 380 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 375 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 128 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 34 flights
- Airbus Industrie A350-900 · 9 flights
Also carried: 369 tonnes of freight and 122 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 79.3%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 13 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.8%
- Flights counted
- 4,124
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 79.3% | 13 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 79.6% | 11 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 49% · aircraft arriving late 25% · air traffic system 24% · weather 2% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $287
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $320
- Q3 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Delta Air Lines
- 67% of passengers · $310
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 30% of passengers · $236
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q3 2025 $335 · Q4 2025 $320 · Q1 2026 $287).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 3,093 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Detroit and Seattle
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Seattle airports
More routes from DTW
More routes from SEA
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| SEA → DEN | 1,648 km | 1,819,437 |
| SEA → PHX | 1,781 km | 1,813,338 |
| SEA → LAX | 1,535 km | 1,810,795 |
| SEA → ANC | 2,331 km | 1,694,688 |
| SEA → SFO | 1,092 km | 1,628,228 |
| SEA → ORD | 2,769 km | 1,622,991 |
| SEA → LAS | 1,394 km | 1,596,435 |
| SEA → DFW | 2,671 km | 1,577,921 |
| SEA → SAN | 1,690 km | 1,233,726 |
| SEA → SLC | 1,108 km | 1,106,553 |