Route profile
PDX→LAX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Portland to Los Angeles, 834 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 93% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 13,548 flights. How this is calculated
PDX → LAX arrives on time 87.8% of the time; the return trip, LAX → PDX, arrives on time 86.9% of the time.
PDX → LAX spends 26.8 minutes on the ground on an 834-mile trip: 15.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PDX and 11.6 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAX.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route holds up about the same all year, a steadier seasonal pattern than 99% of 3,357 comparable routes.
90.7% on time in its best month (September) against 83.2% in its worst (December).
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.
Why PDX → LAX flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
PDX → LAX cancelled 115 of 13,548 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 118. The reason filed most often was the airline, 79.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 149 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 115 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
91 cancellations, 79.1% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
23 cancellations, 20.0% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
1 cancellation, 0.9% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
115 coded cancellations were recorded on PDX → LAX; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
19 min late
against a median of 10 min early
Percentiles over 13,548 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LAX after arriving from PDX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 26% | High risk |
| 45 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 6.9% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 3.7% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 2.3% | Low 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 0.85% of the time and diverts 0.02% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 13,430 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 19 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 13,548 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
PDX → LAX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.0% of the time, against 78.6% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 12.4 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (PDX).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 3.6 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.0 points.
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On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 72–75
- 76–79
- 80–83
- 84–87
- 88–91
- 92–95
- Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.
No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 6 AM (11 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 93.3% on time303 flights | 94.0% on time282 flights | 95.2% on time274 flights | 92.3% on time286 flights | 88.1% on time299 flights | 92.7% on time286 flights | 91.6% on time290 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 89.9% on time180 flights | 90.3% on time146 flights | 90.9% on time145 flights | 87.0% on time170 flights | 88.7% on time171 flights | 90.7% on time195 flights | 92.7% on time166 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 64 flights, too few to score | 61 flights, too few to score | 61 flights, too few to score | 63 flights, too few to score | 61 flights, too few to score | 39 flights, too few to score | 58 flights, too few to score |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 61 flights, too few to score | 41 flights, too few to score | 39 flights, too few to score | 56 flights, too few to score | 57 flights, too few to score | 35 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 90.3% on time251 flights | 92.2% on time247 flights | 87.9% on time241 flights | 92.1% on time253 flights | 91.6% on time256 flights | 88.4% on time234 flights | 87.1% on time253 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 39 flights, too few to score | 28 flights, too few to score | 37 flights, too few to score | 36 flights, too few to score | 37 flights, too few to score | 35 flights, too few to score | 25 flights, too few to score |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 89.2% on time142 flights | 119 flights, too few to score | 90.8% on time121 flights | 92.1% on time129 flights | 89.1% on time132 flights | 118 flights, too few to score | 85.2% on time129 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 89.4% on time192 flights | 88.9% on time154 flights | 90.2% on time153 flights | 85.9% on time199 flights | 87.4% on time192 flights | 89.0% on time146 flights | 86.2% on time204 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 112 flights, too few to score | 110 flights, too few to score | 113 flights, too few to score | 114 flights, too few to score | 115 flights, too few to score | 81 flights, too few to score | 109 flights, too few to score |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 46 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score | 52 flights, too few to score | 48 flights, too few to score | 30 flights, too few to score | 32 flights, too few to score | 43 flights, too few to score |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 69 flights, too few to score | 72 flights, too few to score | 62 flights, too few to score | 62 flights, too few to score | 65 flights, too few to score | 62 flights, too few to score | 58 flights, too few to score |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 84.6% on time293 flights | 89.5% on time268 flights | 85.9% on time271 flights | 80.8% on time294 flights | 80.5% on time300 flights | 90.8% on time240 flights | 85.0% on time277 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 50 flights, too few to score | 24 flights, too few to score | 24 flights, too few to score | 50 flights, too few to score | 46 flights, too few to score | 35 flights, too few to score | 74 flights, too few to score |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 84.7% on time124 flights | 81 flights, too few to score | 78 flights, too few to score | 118 flights, too few to score | 105 flights, too few to score | 40 flights, too few to score | 96 flights, too few to score |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 81 flights, too few to score | 59 flights, too few to score | 62 flights, too few to score | 73 flights, too few to score | 80 flights, too few to score | 22 flights, too few to score | 84 flights, too few to score |
| 9 PM–10 PM | 83.7% on time124 flights | 46 flights, too few to score | 42 flights, too few to score | 82.0% on time124 flights | 75.6% on time123 flights | 65 flights, too few to score | 73.1% on time120 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 92.4% on time from 2,020 flights
- 7 AM: 90.0% on time from 1,173 flights
- 8 AM: 86.8% on time from 407 flights
- 9 AM: 91.6% on time from 338 flights
- 10 AM: 90.0% on time from 1,735 flights
- 11 AM: 91.3% on time from 237 flights
- 12 PM: 90.2% on time from 890 flights
- 1 PM: 88.0% on time from 1,240 flights
- 2 PM: 87.4% on time from 754 flights
- 3 PM: 81.0% on time from 300 flights
- 4 PM: 84.4% on time from 450 flights
- 5 PM: 85.1% on time from 1,943 flights
- 6 PM: 83.3% on time from 303 flights
- 7 PM: 85.7% on time from 642 flights
- 8 PM: 82.8% on time from 461 flights
- 9 PM: 78.6% on time from 644 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why PDX → LAX runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow 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 PDX → LAX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
The harder-hit end is the one the flight leaves from, where a cancellation keeps it from departing at all. Bad weather cancels 2.2 times the normal rate at PDX against 1.3 times at LAX. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: PDX 1.7% against 0.8%, LAX 1.0% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave LAX in bad weather arrived on time 78.9% of the time, against 81.4% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | PDX | LAX |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 1.7% | 1.0% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 84.6% | 78.9% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 83.0% | 81.4% |
| Departures in bad weather | 11,286 | 60,639 |
Of the carriers on this route, Delta Air Lines (0.8% cancelled against 1.9% for the other carriers at PDX) cancelled the fewest departures from PDX in bad weather and Alaska Airlines (2.1% cancelled against 1.2% for the other carriers at PDX) the most. One more carrier flies this route but has too few bad-weather departures from PDX to compare.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at PDX
All departures from PDX| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 1,278 | 0.8%below the others | 1.9% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,681 | 2.4%about level | 2.0% |
| Alaska Airlines | 4,003 | 2.1%above the others | 1.2% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from PDX and LAX, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from PDX on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: PDX (airlines), LAX, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.
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 | 5,720 | 85.7% | 1.07% | -6 min | 2.8% |
| Delta Air Lines | 5,159 | 90.7% | 0.70% | -14 min | 3.9% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 2,146 | 87.1% | 0.33% | -8 min | 5.5% |
| Frontier Airlines | 395 | 84.2% | 2.03% | -9 min | 5.4% |
Alaska Airlines flew 42.6% of the 13,420 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.03% of its flights here against 0.33% for SkyWest Airlines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 6.5 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL2947 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 94.4% of the time, 9.0 points more often than AS278 (5:40 PM) at 85.4%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 5.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 86.6%
- Feb: 87.6%
- Mar: 88.5%
- Apr: 90.3%
- May: 89.5%
- Jun: 88.2%
- Jul: 86.5%
- Aug: 86.6%
- Sep: 90.7%
- Oct: 89.4%
- Nov: 86.9%
- Dec: 83.2%
December is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 7.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 87.3% from 357 flights
- August 2023: 88.4% from 372 flights
- September 2023: 89.8% from 304 flights
- October 2023: 87.9% from 388 flights
- November 2023: 84.8% from 390 flights
- December 2023: 83.4% from 344 flights
- January 2024: 82.5% from 298 flights
- February 2024: 85.4% from 309 flights
- March 2024: 89.9% from 326 flights
- April 2024: 90.2% from 327 flights
- May 2024: 87.1% from 363 flights
- June 2024: 89.2% from 371 flights
- July 2024: 89.6% from 408 flights
- August 2024: 88.3% from 422 flights
- September 2024: 90.0% from 409 flights
- October 2024: 92.5% from 385 flights
- November 2024: 88.0% from 335 flights
- December 2024: 85.7% from 400 flights
- January 2025: 89.2% from 383 flights
- February 2025: 90.3% from 347 flights
- March 2025: 87.8% from 387 flights
- April 2025: 93.8% from 358 flights
- May 2025: 91.6% from 409 flights
- June 2025: 84.2% from 402 flights
- July 2025: 87.7% from 409 flights
- August 2025: 83.3% from 412 flights
- September 2025: 92.2% from 372 flights
- October 2025: 87.8% from 379 flights
- November 2025: 88.2% from 364 flights
- December 2025: 80.2% from 380 flights
- January 2026: 86.9% from 331 flights
- February 2026: 86.8% from 308 flights
- March 2026: 88.1% from 367 flights
- April 2026: 86.6% from 346 flights
- May 2026: 89.6% from 377 flights
- June 2026: 91.5% from 358 flights
- July 2026: 80.6% from 351 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 86.8% against 89.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.2 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 13,548 PDX → LAX 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