Portland to Chicago

What the Data Says About PDX to ORD

The Portland to Chicago corridor (PDX → ORD) covers roughly 1,739 miles and is served by 15 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 11,724 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 84.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 81.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,782 flights were recorded on this pairing — 54 cancelled (1.1%) and 21 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 15 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 11,724 total flights analyzed, the 84.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 81.4-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, Mar 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 64% on-time — a 30-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PDX to ORD route, the combination of a 84.8% on-time rate, 81.4-minute average delay, 1.1% recent cancellation rate, and 15 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.