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Portland → Kansas City

PDX–MCI · Portland International Airport to Kansas City 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 Hood, 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.

PDX to MCI: 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.PDXMCILEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE123456789101112
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 92 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. Mount St. Helens

    LeftEarly44 mi off the route

    Mount St. Helens is about 44 miles off the left, early in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  2. Mount Rainier

    LeftEarly92 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Mount Rainier sits roughly 92 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  3. Columbia River Gorge

    LeftEarly13 mi off the route

    Columbia River Gorge sits close enough to PDX that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  4. Mount Hood

    RightEarly9 mi off the route

    Mount Hood is about 9 miles off the right, early in the flight.

    Strong candidate

  5. Mount Jefferson

    RightEarly58 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Mount Jefferson sits roughly 58 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  6. Mount Adams

    LeftEarly49 mi off the route

    Look left early in the flight for Mount Adams, about 49 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Wallowa Mountains

    LeftQuarter in14 mi off the route

    Wallowa Mountains is about 14 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  8. Hells Canyon

    LeftQuarter in32 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Hells Canyon sits roughly 32 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  9. Sawtooth Range

    RightQuarter in47 mi off the route

    Look right about a quarter of the way in for Sawtooth Range, about 47 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  10. Grand Teton

    RightHalfway11 mi off the route

    Grand Teton is about 11 miles off the right, around the halfway mark.

    Strong candidate

  11. Yellowstone Lake

    LeftHalfway43 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Yellowstone Lake sits roughly 43 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  12. Wind River Range

    RightHalfway33 mi off the route

    Look right around the halfway mark for Wind River Range, about 33 miles out.

    Distant 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

1,478 mi
Great-circle distance
97°
Course out of PDX
116°
Course into MCI
11
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?

Kansas City → PortlandLeft 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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