Route profile
EWR→PDX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Newark to Portland, 2,434 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Weather conditions are strongly associated with delays and cancellations.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 33% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 2,637 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
EWR → PDX arrives on time 77.0% of the time; the return trip, PDX → EWR, arrives on time 82.5% of the time, a 5.5-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
EWR → PDX spends 33.0 minutes on the ground on a 2,434-mile trip: 28.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at EWR and 4.6 minutes from touchdown to gate at PDX.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability here swings unusually widely by season, a wider month-to-month spread than 91% of 3,357 comparable routes.
89.0% on time in a typical September, against 64.8% in July.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where EWR to PDX differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
EWR to PDX is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 AM: 93.3% arrive on time, 4.4 points ahead of the 88.9% those routes manage at that hour.
Wednesday is the day EWR to PDX slips furthest against routes of similar length, 74.7% on time where they average 80.4%, 5.7 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.1 points.
In April, EWR to PDX runs 8.5 points below routes of similar length, 72.3% on time to 80.8%. Against all other routes the gap is 7.6 points.
September is kinder to EWR to PDX than to routes of similar length: 89.0% on time against 82.0%, 7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.6 points.
Alaska Airlines’ flights on EWR to PDX arrive on time 73.0% of the time, 3.1 points below the 76.1% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 5 points.
EWR to PDX against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 AM departures | 93.3% | routes of similar length | 88.9% | +4.4 pts | 390 here, 62,751 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 74.7% | routes of similar length | 80.4% | −5.7 pts | 375 here, 151,729 there |
| Month: April | 72.3% | routes of similar length | 80.8% | −8.5 pts | 177 here, 87,199 there |
| Month: September | 89.0% | routes of similar length | 82.0% | +7.0 pts | 263 here, 86,094 there |
| Airline: Alaska Airlines | 73.0% | routes of similar length | 76.1% | −3.1 pts | 1,020 here, 170,361 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 2,434 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
53 min late
against a median of 9 min early
EWR → PDX has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 9 min early, but the worst tenth are 62 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 2,637 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at PDX after arriving from EWR.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.9% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.0% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.74% of the time and diverts 0.23% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 2,585 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 53 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 2,637 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
EWR → PDX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.8% of the time, against 70.3% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 21.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.3% on time from 396 flights
- 7 AM: 86.7% on time from 120 flights
- 8 AM to 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 79.3% on time from 255 flights
- 5 PM: 74.0% on time from 1,046 flights
- 6 PM: 72.3% on time from 646 flights
- 7 PM: 62.7% on time from 164 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why EWR → PDX runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for EWR → PDX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on EWR → PDX, at 43.7%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.8% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 70.3%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 1,595 | 79.6% | 1.63% | -10 min | 7.6% |
| Alaska Airlines | 1,042 | 73.0% | 1.92% | -6 min | 11.2% |
United Airlines flew 60.5% of the 2,637 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 6.6 percentage points more often than Alaska Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Wednesday the least, a gap of 6.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: no data
- Feb: 81.9%
- Mar: 83.1%
- Apr: 72.3%
- May: 76.2%
- Jun: 66.3%
- Jul: 64.8%
- Aug: 80.9%
- Sep: 89.0%
- Oct: 86.1%
- Nov: 75.9%
- Dec: 76.9%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 24.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (89)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (60)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (62)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (38)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (44)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (62)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (60)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (71)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (91)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (86)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (84)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (56)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (62)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (36)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (44)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (57)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (57)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (62)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (65)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (59)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (62)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (37)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (45)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (62)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (60)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (71)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (111)
- July 2026: 72.4% from 122 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 76.8% against 77.4% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 2,637 EWR → PDX flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed