Best time to fly out of Portland Jetport (PWM)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Portland Jetport: departures in the 8–10am band left on time 91.6% of the time, against 72.5% in the 6–8pm 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.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 90 | 91 | 93 | 92 | 90 | 91 | 92 |
| 6–8am | 89 | 92 | 94 | 92 | 91 | 91 | 90 |
| 8–10am | 93 | 92 | 94 | 91 | 93 | 89 | 90 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 88 | 90 | 88 | 84 | 85 | 84 |
| 12–2pm | 78 | 83 | 85 | 79 | 76 | 78 | 77 |
| 2–4pm | 75 | 78 | 80 | 77 | 75 | 76 | 69 |
| 4–6pm | 72 | 78 | 78 | 76 | 71 | 72 | 70 |
| 6–8pm | 68 | 79 | 78 | 73 | 75 | 65 | 70 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at PWM was 8–10am — 91.6% of departures left on time across 1,200 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 72.5%. 6–8am departures from PWM left on time 91.2% of the time across 6,577 flights; 6–8pm departures, 72.5% across 1,841. That is a gap of 18.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at PWM
July was the hard month at PWM: 73.2% of departures left on time, across 3,851 flights. November was the easy one at 87.4%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 82% | 1,717 |
| February | 84.7% | 1,573 |
| March | 83.9% | 1,791 |
| April | 86.8% | 2,119 |
| May | 85.1% | 2,898 |
| June | 77.8% | 3,625 |
| July | 73.2% | 3,851 |
| August | 79.3% | 4,025 |
| September | 85.8% | 3,785 |
| October | 84.9% | 3,655 |
| November | 87.4% | 2,203 |
| December | 83% | 1,986 |
Airlines at PWM
Every airline with at least 100 departures from PWM, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 87.2% | 88 min | 3% | 9,200 |
| American Airlines | 79.7% | 127 min | 1.8% | 5,362 |
| Southwest Airlines | 78% | 58 min | 0.8% | 4,684 |
| Delta Air Lines | 78.7% | 79 min | 1% | 2,865 |
| United Airlines | 85.8% | 103 min | 1.7% | 2,752 |
| PSA Airlines | 80.1% | 120 min | 4.4% | 2,388 |
| Endeavor Air | 83.7% | 102 min | 3.9% | 1,974 |
| JetBlue Airways | 78.4% | 87 min | 4.2% | 1,367 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 80.8% | 97 min | 1.4% | 1,192 |
| Envoy Air | 85% | 71 min | 1.8% | 799 |
| Frontier Airlines | 74.3% | 86 min | 4.8% | 645 |
What delays out of PWM were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 6,357 flights that departed PWM and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 36% put down to airline operations and 33.3% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 33.3%
- Airline operations 36%
- Air traffic & airport volume 23.4%
- Severe weather 7.3%
- Security 0.1%
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 PWM
Of 33,224 scheduled arrivals into PWM, 76.8% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 6,885 arrivals that ran late, 54.9% 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 PWM
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.
- BWI 80.9% on time · 3,917 flights
- LGA 83.2% on time · 3,861 flights
- DCA 76.9% on time · 3,641 flights
- ORD 79.3% on time · 3,576 flights
- EWR 84.2% on time · 3,133 flights
- PHL 77.9% on time · 2,476 flights
- JFK 79.4% on time · 2,234 flights
- CLT 79.2% on time · 2,100 flights
- IAD 87.2% on time · 2,012 flights
- DTW 81.2% on time · 1,818 flights
PWM in one number
Portland Jetport (PWM)
Rank 97 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 8–10am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about PWM
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Portland Jetport?
- 8–10am. Departures in that band left on time 91.6% of the time across 1,200 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 72.5%.
- Is the early flight out of PWM really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from PWM left on time 91.2% of the time across 6,577 flights; 6–8pm departures, 72.5% across 1,841. That is a gap of 18.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of PWM?
- July: 73.2% of the departures that flew left on time, with 3,851 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 87.4%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at PWM?
- Republic Airways — 87.2% of its 9,200 departures from PWM left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 74.3% over 645 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at PWM?
- 2.4% 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.