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New York → Portland

JFK–PDX · John F. Kennedy International Airport to Portland International Airport

Best bet

Right side

Slight edgeEnough to break a tie, not enough to change seats over.

It is close. The right edges it, mostly on Mount Adams, but the left is not a bad seat.

Flight paths move around. Treat this as the better bet, not a promise.

What you might see

In flight order, with distance measured from the representative route.

JFK to PDX: where each landmark sits relative to the routeA diagram of the representative route running left to right, with the departure airport at the left and the arrival airport at the right. Landmarks on the left side of the aircraft are plotted above the route line and landmarks on the right side below it, each at its distance from the route. The numbered list below this diagram carries the same information as text.JFKPDXLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 79 miles); the shaded ends are the 40-mile zones around each airport where the runway in use decides the view. Numbers match the list below. Hollow markers didn't count toward the recommendation.

  1. Manhattan

    Either sideEarly1 mi off the route

    Manhattan sits close enough to JFK that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  2. Bitterroot Range

    RightThree quarters52 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Bitterroot Range sits roughly 52 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  3. Mount Adams

    RightNear the end33 mi off the route

    Look right late in the flight for Mount Adams, about 33 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. Mount Rainier

    RightNear the end79 mi off the route

    Mount Rainier is about 79 miles off the right, late in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mount Hood

    LeftNear the end22 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Mount Hood sits roughly 22 miles to the left.

    Strong candidate

  6. Columbia River Gorge

    Either sideNear the end2 mi off the route

    Whether Columbia River Gorge appears comes down to how you come into PDX, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

  7. Mount St. Helens

    RightNear the end38 mi off the route

    Mount St. Helens is about 38 miles off the right, late in the flight.

    Good possibility

The sun

Flying soon? Add your date and departure time and we'll work out where the sun should be, and which side gets less of it.

Airport codes or city names. SEA, Seattle, and Seattle-Tacoma all work.

Skip the date and you still get the landmark answer. Add it and we work out where the sun will be, using the departure airport's local time.

The route we used

2,447 mi
Great-circle distance
295°
Course out of JFK
260°
Course into PDX
5
Landmarks that counted

That is the shortest path between the two airports, used as a representative corridor rather than a flight plan. The first and last 40 miles are treated as uncertain, because that part of the flight is shaped by the runway in use and the published departure or arrival procedure. Anything in those zones is listed and marked, never counted toward the recommendation.

Left and right, from where?

Left and right are from your perspective sitting in the cabin, facing the front of the aircraft. Seat letters are not a reliable guide to which side you are on, because aircraft are configured differently.

Why this isn't guaranteed

Flights don't follow the same path every day. Runway configuration, weather deviations, traffic, and air traffic control all move the track around, and none of it is knowable in advance. We also have nothing to say about cloud cover, which is the other thing standing between you and Mount Rainier. The full method.

Flying the other way?

Portland → New YorkLeft side

Calculated from scratch, not by flipping this one. The landmarks arrive in the opposite order, the sun is somewhere else entirely, and the answer changes with them.

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