Portland to Los Angeles

What the Data Says About PDX to LAX

The Portland to Los Angeles corridor (PDX → LAX) covers roughly 834 miles and is served by 30 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 24,956 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 87.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 73.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 8,955 flights were recorded on this pairing — 91 cancelled (1.0%) and 2 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 30 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 24,956 total flights analyzed, the 87.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 73.4-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, Apr 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 80% on-time — a 14-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PDX to LAX route, the combination of a 87.7% on-time rate, 73.4-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 30 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.