On-Time Report

Routes › Portland (PDX) › PDX to IAD

Route · 12 months to July 2026

Portland to Washington: on-time record

Portland International to Washington Dulles International

92.4%arrived on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report. Data through July 2026; this is a monthly history, not live flight status.

In the 12 months to July 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 291 flights from Portland (PDX) to Washington (IAD), a distance of 2,327 miles. 92.4% of them arrived within 15 minutes of schedule.

That is 16.4 points above the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and 10.4 points above the 82.0% recorded for all departures from PDX. Flights that did arrive were 12.5 minutes early on average, and 0.7% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).

United Airlines is the only reporting carrier on the route, with 291 flights in the period.

By scheduled departure hour (local time at PDX), flights leaving from 10 pm to 11 pm had the highest on-time share, 100.0%; those leaving from 11 pm to 12 am had the lowest, 84.1%.

The on-time share is up 5.5 points on the previous 12 months (86.9%); cancellations moved from 0.7% to 0.7%.

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, air carrier 67%, late-arriving aircraft 30% and national aviation system 3%.

92.4%arrived on timenational 76.0%
-12.5 minaverage arrival delayearly arrivals count as negative; national 8.1 min
0.7%cancellednational 1.8%
24flights a month291 in 12 months · 2,327 miles
Every scheduled PDX to IAD flight by a reporting carrier, August 2025 to July 2026.

Airlines on the route compared

Reporting carrierFlightsShareOn timeAvg arrival delayCancelled
UA United Airlines291100%92.4%-12.5 min0.7%

Carriers with at least 24 flights in the 12 months to July 2026. The on-time pill is green when a carrier is at or above the route's overall share. Regional carriers operate flights sold under larger airlines' brands; BTS lists the carrier that operated the flight.

Compared with the airports and the nation

MeasurePDX to IADAll departures from PDXAll arrivals at IADAll reported flights
Arrived on time92.4%82.0%81.9%76.0%
Arrived 15+ minutes late6.5%17.0%16.5%21.9%
Cancelled0.7%0.7%1.4%1.8%
Diverted0.3%0.3%0.1%0.3%
Average arrival delay-12.5 min2.5 min3.5 min8.1 min
Delay minutes per 100 flights5761,1341,3341,684
Scheduled flights29163,28257,7617,043,858

12 months to July 2026. Delay minutes count late arrivals only (an early arrival is zero), so the per-100-flights row is a normalised total rather than an average of early and late.

The return direction, IAD to PDX, recorded 75.3% on time across 291 flights in the same period.

Month by month

100%columns start at 40%
Share of scheduled PDX to IAD flights that arrived on time, Aug 2023 to Jul 2026. Green columns are at or above the national figure for that month (the dark tick), amber below it, red more than eight points below.

Year on year: on time 92.4% against 86.9% (+5.5 pts), cancelled 0.7% against 0.7%, flights 291 against 291.

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over
Share of flights that arrived on time, by the hour they were scheduled to leave PDX (local time), 12 months to July 2026. Faded cells have few flights. Hover or tap a cell for counts.

Delay causes

BTS cause categoryShare of delay minutesNationalMinutes
Air carrier67.1%33.3%1,030
Late-arriving aircraft29.7%39.7%456
National Aviation System3.3%20.7%50
Extreme weather0.0%6.1%0
Security0.0%0.1%0
1,536 delay minutes on 19 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Seasonality

Calendar monthFlightsOn timeCancelledAvg arrival delayYears in sample
Jan1593.3%0.0%-17.2 min3
Mar7894.9%1.3%-13.9 min3
Apr9091.1%0.0%-11.0 min3
May9386.0%0.0%-5.7 min3
Jun9288.0%1.1%-9.6 min3
Jul9375.3%3.2%3.8 min3
Aug9285.9%0.0%15.3 min3
Sep9090.0%0.0%0.7 min3
Oct9297.8%0.0%-12.7 min3
Nov8297.6%0.0%-14.4 min3
Dec5196.1%0.0%-13.7 min3

Each calendar month summed across the 36 months on file, so most rows combine three years. The pill compares the month with the route's own 12-month share.

Other routes from Portland (PDX)

RouteCitiesFlightsOn timeAvg arrival delayCancelled
PDX–SEAPortland to Seattle4,94284.8%-0.1 min0.7%
PDX–LAXPortland to Los Angeles4,34586.2%-0.3 min0.7%
PDX–DENPortland to Denver4,28681.9%2.3 min0.4%
PDX–PHXPortland to Phoenix3,75078.7%9.1 min0.4%
PDX–SFOPortland to San Francisco3,49469.0%12.4 min0.4%
PDX–LASPortland to Las Vegas2,95680.0%5.1 min0.5%
PDX–ORDPortland to Chicago2,80877.6%6.2 min1.0%
PDX–DFWPortland to Dallas/Fort Worth2,38078.7%7.6 min2.5%

All 74 routes and the airport record for PDX · airport record for IAD

Questions and answers

How often are flights from Portland to Washington on time?

92.4% of the 291 flights scheduled from PDX to IAD in the 12 months to July 2026 arrived less than 15 minutes after their scheduled time. The national share for the same period was 76.0%. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.

Which airline has the highest on-time share from PDX to IAD?

United Airlines is the only reporting carrier with at least 60 flights on the route in the period, so there is no comparison to make.

What causes delays between Portland and Washington?

For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: air carrier 67%, late-arriving aircraft 30%, national aviation system 3%, extreme weather 0%, security 0%. The categories are the carriers' own reports to BTS; weather that slows the wider system is usually recorded under the National Aviation System rather than extreme weather.

What time of day has the highest on-time share from PDX?

Flights scheduled to leave PDX from 10 pm to 11 pm arrived on time 100.0% of the time, the highest of any hour with enough flights to compare. The lowest was 11 pm to 12 am at 84.1%. Delays tend to build through the day as late aircraft carry over to later flights.

Is it getting better?

The on-time share for the 12 months to July 2026 was 92.4%, up 5.5 points on the previous 12 months (86.9%). The monthly chart on this page shows each of the last 36 months. Across those months, October had the highest on-time share (97.8%) and July the lowest (75.3%).

Where does this data come from?

Every figure is computed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance files, which list each scheduled domestic flight by the carriers required to report. This page covers August 2023 to July 2026. It shows totals and averages only; it is not a live flight-status service.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987 to present), monthly files August 2023 to July 2026, a US government work in the public domain. Figures are totals and averages over all scheduled flights by reporting carriers on the route; no individual flight or aircraft is identified. Times are local to the departure airport. The load factor and passenger counts from the BTS T-100 series are not included in this edition. See the methodology; report processing errors through corrections.