Route profile
MCO→PDX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Orlando to Portland, 2,534 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 17% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 1,345 flights. How this is calculated
MCO → PDX arrives on time 70.3% of the time; the return trip, PDX → MCO, arrives on time 81.0% of the time, a 10.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
MCO → PDX spends 28.8 minutes on the ground on a 2,534-mile trip: 23.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MCO and 5.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at PDX.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Unlike most, it barely matters what time you fly this route, a steadier spread than 95% of 4,023 comparable routes.
75.1% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 68.0% for 3–6 PM, a narrow gap either way.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where MCO to PDX differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
MCO to PDX struggles most at 8 AM: 71.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 11.5 points behind the 83.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14 points.
Thursday is the day MCO to PDX slips furthest against routes of similar length, 66.8% on time where they average 77.1%, 10.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 10 points.
In July, MCO to PDX runs 20.8 points below routes of similar length, 49.6% on time to 70.4%. Against all other routes the gap is 20.1 points.
Alaska Airlines’ flights on MCO to PDX arrive on time 70.3% of the time, 5.7 points below the 76.0% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 7.7 points.
MCO to PDX against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 71.9% | routes of similar length | 83.4% | −11.5 pts | 139 here, 95,686 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 66.8% | routes of similar length | 77.1% | −10.3 pts | 184 here, 135,850 there |
| Month: July | 49.6% | routes of similar length | 70.4% | −20.8 pts | 123 here, 111,558 there |
| Airline: Alaska Airlines | 70.3% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | −5.7 pts | 1,324 here, 158,965 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 2,534 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
61 min late
against a median of 2 min early
MCO → PDX has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 2 min early, but the worst tenth are 63 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 1,345 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at PDX after arriving from MCO.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 46% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 29% | High risk |
| 60 min | 19% | High risk |
| 90 min | 10% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.2% | 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 1.34% of the time and diverts 0.22% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 1,324 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 61 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 1,345 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
MCO → PDX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 75.1% of the time, against 68.0% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 7.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 71.9% on time from 139 flights
- 9 AM to 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 77.9% on time from 137 flights
- 5 PM: 64.0% on time from 337 flights
- 6 PM: too few flights to score
- 7 PM: 69.7% on time from 570 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why MCO → 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 MCO → PDX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MCO → PDX, at 47.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, though departure time makes little difference here: the best and worst windows are 7 points apart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 1,345 | 70.3% | 1.34% | -2 min | 10.4% |
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AS301 Alaska Airlines | 7:59 PM | 1,042 | 68.7% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 8.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 71.9% against 68.2% in the 12 months before — improving by 3.7 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 1,345 MCO → 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