Portland to Anchorage

What the Data Says About PDX to ANC

The Portland to Anchorage corridor (PDX → ANC) covers roughly 1,542 miles and is served by 2 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 2,744 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 49.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,287 flights were recorded on this pairing — 1 cancelled (0.1%) and 2 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 2 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 2,744 total flights analyzed, the 80.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 49.3-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, May 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 61% on-time — a 32-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PDX to ANC route, the combination of a 80.3% on-time rate, 49.3-minute average delay, 0.1% recent cancellation rate, and 2 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.