Best time to fly out of Portland (PDX)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Portland: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 92.6% of the time, against 76.7% in the 10pm–12am band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.

Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics

On-time rate by hour and day

On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Before 6am 93 93 94 93 93 91 93
6–8am 91 92 93 92 91 92 91
8–10am 89 91 91 91 88 88 88
10am–12pm 85 89 87 85 83 86 85
12–2pm 80 83 83 81 79 83 77
2–4pm 81 84 84 81 77 83 78
4–6pm 79 83 82 76 75 83 77
6–8pm 77 82 79 76 74 82 75
8–10pm 77 83 85 75 74 78 72
10pm–12am 78 79 79 73 76 77 76
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at PDX was Before 6am — 92.6% of departures left on time across 11,315 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 76.7%. 6–8am departures from PDX left on time 91.9% of the time across 33,101 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.4% across 13,792. That is a gap of 14.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at PDX

June was the hard month at PDX: 78.5% of departures left on time, across 16,932 flights. November was the easy one at 88.1%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 84.3%.
Departure on-time share at PDX by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 83.7% 13,213
February 86% 12,182
March 85.6% 14,544
April 85.7% 14,568
May 84.1% 15,850
June 78.5% 16,932
July 79% 16,551
August 83.7% 16,500
September 87.4% 15,426
October 87.8% 15,948
November 88.1% 14,664
December 82.9% 14,952

Airlines at PDX

Every airline with at least 100 departures from PDX, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.

Airline Left on time Typical delay Cancelled Departures
Alaska Airlines 86% 53 min 1.1% 57,478
SkyWest Airlines 87.2% 67 min 0.5% 31,460
Southwest Airlines 77.7% 48 min 0.4% 28,029
Delta Air Lines 89.4% 75 min 0.7% 21,644
United Airlines 85.2% 75 min 0.9% 19,832
American Airlines 78.9% 99 min 1.5% 12,132
Frontier Airlines 77.3% 77 min 1.9% 4,021
Spirit Airlines 80.4% 77 min 1.6% 2,850
Hawaiian Airlines 78.4% 90 min 0.7% 1,942
Allegiant Air 80.3% 129 min 0% 1,185
JetBlue Airways 55.6% 120 min 1.7% 631
Envoy Air 88.9% — 0% 126

A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s departures ran 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.

What delays out of PDX were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 29,760 flights that departed PDX and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 38% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 35.6% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 38% Airline operations 35.6% Air traffic & airport volume 22.6% Severe weather 3.5% Security 0.2%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 38%
  • Airline operations 35.6%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 22.6%
  • Severe weather 3.5%
  • Security 0.2%

Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.

If you are connecting through PDX

Of 181,323 scheduled arrivals into PDX, 80.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 34,084 arrivals that ran late, 59.8% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.

Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.

Busiest routes out of PDX

Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.

PDX in one number

Portland (PDX)

Rank 32 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: June.

July 2023–June 2026 · 179,776 departures flown

84.3% of departures left on time

Questions about PDX

What is the best time of day to fly out of Portland?
Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 92.6% of the time across 11,315 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 76.7%.
Is the early flight out of PDX really more reliable?
6–8am departures from PDX left on time 91.9% of the time across 33,101 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.4% across 13,792. That is a gap of 14.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of PDX?
June: 78.5% of the departures that flew left on time, with 16,932 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 88.1%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at PDX?
Delta Air Lines — 89.4% of its 21,644 departures from PDX left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 55.6% over 631 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
How often are flights cancelled at PDX?
0.9% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.