San Francisco to Portland

What the Data Says About SFO to PDX

The San Francisco to Portland corridor (SFO → PDX) covers roughly 550 miles and is served by 22 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 19,421 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 84.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 63.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 7,117 flights were recorded on this pairing — 65 cancelled (0.9%) and 1 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 22 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 19,421 total flights analyzed, the 84.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 63.7-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, Jan 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 90% on-time, while Mar 2024 came in at 66% on-time — a 24-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SFO to PDX route, the combination of a 84.4% on-time rate, 63.7-minute average delay, 0.9% recent cancellation rate, and 22 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.