Denver to Portland

What the Data Says About DEN to PDX

The Denver to Portland corridor (DEN → PDX) covers roughly 991 miles and is served by 27 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 23,121 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.1% on-time rate with an average delay of 60.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 8,982 flights were recorded on this pairing — 83 cancelled (0.9%) and 4 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 27 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 23,121 total flights analyzed, the 77.1% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 60.7-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 86% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 65% on-time — a 22-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DEN to PDX route, the combination of a 77.1% on-time rate, 60.7-minute average delay, 0.9% recent cancellation rate, and 27 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.