Route profile
PHL→BNA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Philadelphia to Nashville, 675 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 29% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,582 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
PHL → BNA arrives on time 77.0% of the time; the return trip, BNA → PHL, arrives on time 75.6% of the time.
PHL → BNA spends 28.0 minutes on the ground on a 675-mile trip: 19.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHL and 8.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at BNA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where PHL to BNA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
PHL to BNA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 2 PM: 80.2% arrive on time, 6.1 points ahead of the 74.1% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 5.6 points.
PHL to BNA struggles most at 7 PM: 62.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 5.4 points behind the 67.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 5.3 points.
In May, PHL to BNA runs 5.6 points below routes of similar length, 68.5% on time to 74.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
Spirit Airlines does better on PHL to BNA than on its routes of similar length: 80.8% on time here, 73.2% there, 7.6 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 5.5 points.
American Airlines’ flights on PHL to BNA arrive on time 72.0% of the time, 2.3 points below the 74.3% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 3.1 points.
PHL to BNA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 80.2% | routes of similar length | 74.1% | +6.1 pts | 359 here, 126,020 there |
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 62.5% | routes of similar length | 67.9% | −5.4 pts | 945 here, 129,162 there |
| Month: May | 68.5% | routes of similar length | 74.1% | −5.6 pts | 677 here, 194,593 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 80.8% | routes of similar length | 73.2% | +7.6 pts | 641 here, 78,718 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 72.0% | routes of similar length | 74.3% | −2.3 pts | 2,913 here, 330,710 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 675 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why PHL → BNA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
PHL → BNA cancelled 167 of 8,582 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 51. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 70.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 73 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 167 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
118 cancellations, 70.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
36 cancellations, 21.6% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
13 cancellations, 7.8% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
167 coded cancellations were recorded on PHL → BNA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
53 min late
against a median of 7 min early
PHL → BNA has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 8,582 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BNA after arriving from PHL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 16% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.5% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.95% of the time and diverts 0.16% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,401 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 53 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,582 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
PHL → BNA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.0% of the time, against 63.4% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 26.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 93.8% on time from 469 flights
- 6 AM: 91.8% on time from 436 flights
- 7 AM: 86.8% on time from 240 flights
- 8 AM: 87.9% on time from 838 flights
- 9 AM: 85.4% on time from 372 flights
- 10 AM: 88.4% on time from 447 flights
- 11 AM: 83.0% on time from 587 flights
- 12 PM: 75.8% on time from 810 flights
- 1 PM: 75.9% on time from 507 flights
- 2 PM: 80.2% on time from 361 flights
- 3 PM: 71.6% on time from 777 flights
- 4 PM: 67.9% on time from 352 flights
- 5 PM: 67.6% on time from 254 flights
- 6 PM: 66.7% on time from 448 flights
- 7 PM: 62.5% on time from 976 flights
- 8 PM: 62.2% on time from 501 flights
- 9 PM: 67.2% on time from 195 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why PHL → BNA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for PHL → BNA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHL → BNA, at 49.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.0% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 63.4%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 2,975 | 72.0% | 1.85% | -4 min | 12.5% |
| Southwest Airlines | 2,616 | 79.4% | 0.96% | -5 min | 5.9% |
| PSA Airlines | 1,129 | 77.2% | 4.34% | -9 min | 10.4% |
| Republic Airways | 719 | 87.7% | 1.53% | -12 min | 3.5% |
| Spirit Airlines | 653 | 80.8% | 1.84% | -11 min | 7.5% |
| Frontier Airlines | 490 | 73.4% | 3.06% | -11 min | 13.1% |
American Airlines flew 34.7% of the 8,582 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 4.34% of its flights here against 0.96% for Southwest Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 15.7 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 5.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.5%
- Feb: 81.6%
- Mar: 81.3%
- Apr: 80.5%
- May: 68.5%
- Jun: 73.2%
- Jul: 65.6%
- Aug: 75.5%
- Sep: 81.1%
- Oct: 83.1%
- Nov: 82.3%
- Dec: 76.9%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 17.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 64.6% from 249 flights
- August 2023: 81.2% from 241 flights
- September 2023: 79.0% from 240 flights
- October 2023: 85.8% from 268 flights
- November 2023: 83.5% from 230 flights
- December 2023: 85.8% from 221 flights
- January 2024: 80.6% from 210 flights
- February 2024: 90.8% from 184 flights
- March 2024: 85.6% from 187 flights
- April 2024: 81.7% from 213 flights
- May 2024: 65.5% from 228 flights
- June 2024: 78.7% from 243 flights
- July 2024: 65.1% from 272 flights
- August 2024: 69.8% from 285 flights
- September 2024: 82.2% from 260 flights
- October 2024: 91.0% from 255 flights
- November 2024: 87.0% from 239 flights
- December 2024: 80.2% from 217 flights
- January 2025: 73.3% from 200 flights
- February 2025: 73.2% from 180 flights
- March 2025: 82.9% from 212 flights
- April 2025: 79.6% from 222 flights
- May 2025: 69.3% from 219 flights
- June 2025: 65.8% from 228 flights
- July 2025: 68.6% from 233 flights
- August 2025: 76.4% from 246 flights
- September 2025: 82.1% from 236 flights
- October 2025: 73.4% from 285 flights
- November 2025: 76.0% from 225 flights
- December 2025: 63.7% from 204 flights
- January 2026: 84.9% from 195 flights
- February 2026: 80.1% from 202 flights
- March 2026: 76.6% from 243 flights
- April 2026: 80.3% from 242 flights
- May 2026: 70.7% from 245 flights
- June 2026: 74.6% from 260 flights
- July 2026: 64.5% from 263 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 75.1% against 77.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,582 PHL → BNA flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed