SEATAC — A commercial airline pilot flying passengers from SeaTac International Airport to Calgary, Alberta in Canada says it took 32 minutes for the plane to taxi from the time it pushed away from the gate to finally taking flight after reaching the runway.
The aviation website, Airlive.net, posted this story about the lengthy tarmac navigation claim and the pilot’s frustration that transpired in the 32 minute sojourn before throttling up for lift off. The estimated ground-to-ground flight time from Seattle to Calgary is about an hour and 20 minutes, more than 1/3rd of the time it purportedly took to taxi for that day’s flight.
This story from SeaTacNoise.info says longer taxi times for commercial jets at SEA have become more common and most passengers have been on at least one flight where the time involved for arriving at the airport, clearing security, getting seated, pushing back from the gate and then taxiing to the take-off runway seems excruciatingly long.
The Westjet captain who reported the 32-minute taxi excursion is apparently aware of the taxi issues at SEA. According to Airlive.net, “While the captain acknowledged that half-hour taxi delays have become “pretty classic” for Seattle-Tacoma International, the incident highlighted a growing operational risk. The flight crew noted that the captain proactively requested extra fuel than the standard planned quantity prior to departure. If not, the excessive burn during taxiing would have forced the Boeing 737 to return to the gate to refuel to satisfy legal minimum takeoff fuel requirements.”
The 737 captain calculates the taxi traverse to runway 16L burned roughly 800 pounds of jet fuel during prior to takeoff.
In other aviation related news, new information regarding a fatal Prime Air cargo plane crash in Miami, Florida five weeks ago that killed five people when the Boeing 767 Freighter over-shot the runway while landing, may have been connected to the pilot and co-pilot never being told about a tail wind. The aviation website, Leeham News, posted this detailed story about the investigation and an FAA requirement that air traffic controllers are required to tell pilots landing about tailwinds to calculate into their landing logistics. The Prime Air cargo flight, operated by 21 Air, briefly attempted to abort the landing and initiate a go-round after touching down too far down the runway, before abandoning the attempt and trying to stop the aircraft. It careened past the runway, through a fence and into a road next to warehouses where it hit a van carrying five people who were killed in the catastrophe.
Over the weekend, a Lufthansa Boeing 747 safely aborted a landing at Los Angeles International Airport in this riveting video and executed a go-round before safely landing. The aircraft, registered D-ABYK, landed safely on its second attempt, 15 minutes after its initial touchdown attempt.
A Lufthansa 747 avoided a tail strike by a narrow margin after its landing at Los Angeles International Airport was aborted. #Lufthansa #Boeing747 #B747 #LAX #KLAX #LosAngelesInternationalAirport #TailStrike #AbortedLanding #Snnfinland https://t.co/fkTZ3xfUft
— SNN Finland (@snnfinalnd) October 12, 2026
Reports about the LAX go-round were related to windy conditions.