Route profile
PHX→CMH
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Phoenix to Columbus, 1,670 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 37% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,420 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
PHX → CMH arrives on time 73.9% of the time; the return trip, CMH → PHX, arrives on time 85.8% of the time, a 12.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
PHX → CMH spends 22.9 minutes on the ground on a 1,670-mile trip: 15.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHX and 7.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at CMH.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where PHX to CMH differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
PHX to CMH struggles most at 8 AM: 74.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 10 points behind the 84.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 11 points.
Wednesday is the day PHX to CMH slips furthest against routes of similar length, 73.3% on time where they average 80.1%, 6.8 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.
In October, PHX to CMH runs 8.2 points below routes of similar length, 74.7% on time to 82.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 8.3 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on PHX to CMH arrive on time 71.4% of the time, 4.1 points below the 75.5% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6 points.
PHX to CMH against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 74.9% | routes of similar length | 84.9% | −10.0 pts | 379 here, 106,457 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 73.3% | routes of similar length | 80.1% | −6.8 pts | 412 here, 205,740 there |
| Month: October | 74.7% | routes of similar length | 82.9% | −8.2 pts | 277 here, 125,496 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 71.4% | routes of similar length | 75.5% | −4.1 pts | 1,587 here, 323,186 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 1,670 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
54 min late
against a median of 1 min early
Percentiles over 3,420 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at CMH after arriving from PHX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 47% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 16% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.1% | 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 0.47% of the time and diverts 0.41% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,390 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 54 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,420 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
PHX → CMH flights departing 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 81.4% of the time, against 67.3% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 14.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 74.9% on time from 381 flights
- 9 AM: 81.3% on time from 593 flights
- 10 AM: 82.4% on time from 179 flights
- 11 AM: 80.5% on time from 124 flights
- 12 PM to 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 72.2% on time from 506 flights
- 4 PM: 71.4% on time from 412 flights
- 5 PM: 68.3% on time from 397 flights
- 6 PM: 66.4% on time from 492 flights
- 7 PM: 73.0% on time from 124 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why PHX → CMH 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
screening or terminal security incidents
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for PHX → CMH. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHX → CMH, at 56.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 9 AM–12 PM departures arrived on time 81.4% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 67.3%.
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 | 1,822 | 76.0% | 0.60% | -4 min | 9.4% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,598 | 71.4% | 0.31% | 1 min | 8.1% |
American Airlines flew 53.3% of the 3,420 flights listed.
American Airlines arrived on time 4.6 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 74.8%
- Feb: 78.8%
- Mar: 74.0%
- Apr: 77.9%
- May: 69.1%
- Jun: 71.2%
- Jul: 65.2%
- Aug: 74.6%
- Sep: 80.7%
- Oct: 74.7%
- Nov: 77.5%
- Dec: 74.7%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 15.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (96)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (91)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (84)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (65)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (85)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (96)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (86)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (83)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (97)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (96)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (88)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (56)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (52)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (106)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (95)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (101)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (81)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (75)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (104)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (114)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (110)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (114)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (78)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (73)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (95)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (100)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (82)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (75)
- March 2026: 68.5% from 128 flights
- April 2026: too few flights to score (110)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (111)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (95)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (93)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 71.4% against 75.2% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.8 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,420 PHX → CMH 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