American Airlines Adding Miami to Portland Route Starting November

As flagged by Ishrion Aviation, American Airlines will be adding a new route to its network from Miami, Florida, to Portland, Oregon. The new route will start November 5, 2023, and will be in addition to the same route that partner Alaska Airlines recently announced.

Portland to Miami

This is a new route for American Airlines, as it currently serves these cities from Portland: Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Philadelphia (PHL), and Phoenix (PHX).

The route will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX, with both a first class and economy class cabin.

The flight will operate on the following schedule:

• Depart Miami (MIA) 7:30 p.m. — Arrive Portland (PDX) at 11:20 p.m.
• Depart Portland (PDX) 11:55 p.m. — Arrive Miami (MIA) at 8:41 a.m. (+1)

On the flight from Miami to Portland, the timing is perfect to fly in from another destination and then connect onto this flight. For the return flight, you can take the red-eye flight and then connect onto an American flight the next morning.

Unfortunately, that return flight is a red-eye flight which won’t be appealing for many customers, but it does allow the full day (and more) in Portland, which maximizes your time there. Both of these flights are fairly lengthy, with about a 7-hour flight to Portland, and a roughly 6-hour or so flight to Miami with the tailwinds. These are incredibly long domestic flights, just shorter than American’s longest domestic route in the continental U.S. which is from Seattle to Miami.

Alaska Airlines Route

Alaska Airlines announced the same exact route to launch on November 17, about 2 weeks after the American launch. Both airlines are partners but do not coordinate on pricing, so American and Alaska will go head-to-head on this new route. Like American’s route, Alaska will operate a late evening departure from Miami and a red-eye from Portland.

Final Thoughts

Portland will soon see 2 daily departures to Miami, one on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. While both flights will operate as red-eyes, they do provide an additional option to the Pacific Northwest and additional connection opportunities in Miami.