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Window Seat

Portland → New Orleans

PDX–MSY · Portland International Airport to Louis Armstrong New Orleans 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 Pikes Peak, 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 MSY: 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.PDXMSYLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE123456789101112
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 96 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

    LeftEarly47 mi off the route

    Mount St. Helens is about 47 miles off the left, early in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  2. Mount Rainier

    LeftEarly96 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Mount Rainier sits roughly 96 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  3. Columbia River Gorge

    LeftEarly21 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 Adams

    LeftEarly59 mi off the route

    Mount Adams is about 59 miles off the left, early in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mount Hood

    Either sideEarly2 mi off the route

    Mount Hood passes almost directly beneath early in the flight, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Strong candidate

  6. Mount Jefferson

    RightEarly45 mi off the route

    Look right early in the flight for Mount Jefferson, about 45 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Sawtooth Range

    LeftQuarter in43 mi off the route

    Sawtooth Range is about 43 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  8. Bear Lake

    Either sideQuarter in7 mi off the route

    Bear Lake passes almost directly beneath about a quarter of the way in, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  9. Uinta Mountains

    RightQuarter in44 mi off the route

    Look right about a quarter of the way in for Uinta Mountains, about 44 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  10. Longs Peak

    LeftHalfway52 mi off the route

    Longs Peak is about 52 miles off the left, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  11. Mount Elbert

    RightHalfway38 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Mount Elbert sits roughly 38 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  12. Pikes Peak

    RightHalfway15 mi off the route

    Look right around the halfway mark for Pikes Peak, about 15 miles out.

    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

2,047 mi
Great-circle distance
111°
Course out of PDX
131°
Course into MSY
9
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?

New Orleans → 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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