According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Portland, ME (PWM) ranks #96 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Portland, ME posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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PWM on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Portland, ME sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Portland, ME handles more flight
volume than 75% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
35% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and delay-prone.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
Portland, ME vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 120,951 ·
On-time rate: 82.2%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes894,072 min
Late Aircraft321,783 min · 36%
Carrier311,769 min · 35%
NAS (National Aviation System)202,323 min · 23%
Weather57,742 min · 6%
Security455 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
PWM - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: November (94.2%) · worst: July (88.3%)
PWM - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
PWM - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 16.6 min · taxi-in 5.8 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
PWM's average taxi-out (16.6 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 14.1 min (October 2024) to 21.7 min (February 2025).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Portland, ME, both outside Maine so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Portland, ME is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 36.0% of 894,072 delay minutes across 120,951 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 82.2% (3.2 pts above the 79% national average), with 21,471 delayed and 1,886 cancelled (1.56%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (36.0% late-aircraft, 34.9% carrier, 22.6% NAS, 6.5% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, PWM is strongest in November (94.2% on-time) and weakest in July (88.3%), a 5.9-point swing. Volume peaks in August (~2,385 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to BWI (Baltimore) at 82.7% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Portland, ME vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
82.2%Top 65%higher than 35% of 382 airports
Portland, ME
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
PWM's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.
Check the busiest route from PWM before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 16.6 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Portland, ME's on-time rate?
Portland, ME (PWM) has a 82.2% on-time rate across 120,951 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 3.2 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the below-median on-time performance.
How does PWM rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Portland, ME ranks #96 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a high-volume U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Portland, ME?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at PWM, accounting for 36.0% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 36.0% late-aircraft, 34.9% carrier, 22.6% NAS/air-traffic-control, 6.5% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through Portland, ME?
November is historically PWM's strongest month at 94.2% on-time, while July is the weakest at 88.3%, a 5.9-point swing across the BTS historical record.