Route profile
PHX→PHL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Phoenix to Philadelphia, 2,075 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 81% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,471 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
PHX → PHL arrives on time 84.2% of the time; the return trip, PHL → PHX, arrives on time 81.4% of the time, a 2.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
PHX → PHL spends 24.5 minutes on the ground on a 2,075-mile trip: 17.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHX and 7.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at PHL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where PHX to PHL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
PHX to PHL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 5 PM: 85.8% arrive on time, 11.9 points ahead of the 73.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16 points.
PHX to PHL struggles most at 12 PM: 70.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.8 points behind the 78.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 8.6 points.
PHX to PHL holds up on Saturdays better than routes of similar length do: 88.6% on time to their 79.3%, a 9.3 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 9.5 points.
December is kinder to PHX to PHL than to routes of similar length: 90.0% on time against 80.0%, 10 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 11.3 points.
American Airlines does better on PHX to PHL than on its routes of similar length: 84.2% on time here, 78.1% there, 6.1 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 9.1 points.
PHX to PHL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 85.8% | routes of similar length | 73.9% | +11.9 pts | 337 here, 61,825 there |
| Hour: 12 PM departures | 70.8% | routes of similar length | 78.6% | −7.8 pts | 692 here, 47,497 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 88.6% | routes of similar length | 79.3% | +9.3 pts | 1,027 here, 132,104 there |
| Month: December | 90.0% | routes of similar length | 80.0% | +10.0 pts | 610 here, 75,681 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 84.2% | routes of similar length | 78.1% | +6.1 pts | 7,366 here, 233,279 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 2,075 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.
PHX to PHL in context
This route against PHX and PHL as a whole, against similar routes from PHX, and against its own first year, July 2023 – July 2026.
Leaving PHX, PHX to PHL is on time 84.2% of the time, 3.9 points better than the airport’s other departures at PHX (80.3%, from 585,603 flights).
Arriving at PHL, PHX to PHL is on time 84.2% of the time, 7.8 points better than the airport’s other arrivals at PHL (76.4%, from 290,553 flights).
Cancellations rose from 0.71% of scheduled flights (18 of 2,541) in the first twelve months to 1.55% (36 of 2,324) in the latest twelve.
Of the 7,445 flights scheduled in hours with at least 120 flights, 8 AM is the busiest hour with 1,125 (15.1%), 88.0% of them on time, and 12 AM the quietest with 135 (1.8%), 90.2% of them on time.
Airport comparisons take this route’s flights out of the airport total. Length means within 15% of this route’s distance, with at least 3 other routes from the same origin. On-time gaps are stated at 2 points and 2 standard errors, cancellation gaps at 0.5 points and 2 standard errors, and every group needs 750 flights. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why PHX → PHL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
PHX → PHL cancelled 87 of 7,471 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 86. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 82.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 104 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 87 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.
72 cancellations, 82.8% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
8 cancellations, 9.2% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
7 cancellations, 8.0% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
87 coded cancellations were recorded on PHX → PHL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
26 min late
against a median of 9 min early
Percentiles over 7,471 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at PHL after arriving from PHX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 32% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 15% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 9.0% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.7% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 2.9% | Low 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 1.16% of the time and diverts 0.23% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,367 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 26 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,471 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
PHX → PHL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.5% of the time, against 74.6% for 12–3 PM departures, a gap of 15.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM: 90.2% on time from 135 flights
- 1 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 96.2% on time from 265 flights
- 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 92.7% on time from 594 flights
- 8 AM: 88.0% on time from 1,125 flights
- 9 AM: 86.1% on time from 405 flights
- 10 AM: 76.1% on time from 502 flights
- 11 AM: 85.2% on time from 376 flights
- 12 PM: 70.8% on time from 706 flights
- 1 PM: 80.9% on time from 415 flights
- 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 71.1% on time from 375 flights
- 4 PM: 76.0% on time from 382 flights
- 5 PM: 85.8% on time from 344 flights
- 6 PM to 8 PM: too few flights to score
- 9 PM: 86.4% on time from 163 flights
- 10 PM: 87.4% on time from 779 flights
- 11 PM: 90.0% on time from 879 flights
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why PHX → PHL 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 PHX → PHL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHX → PHL, at 40.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.5% of the time and 12–3 PM departures 74.6%.
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 | 7,470 | 84.2% | 1.16% | -9 min | 4.8% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 5.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 87.4%
- Feb: 88.3%
- Mar: 81.2%
- Apr: 87.2%
- May: 81.0%
- Jun: 81.9%
- Jul: 72.5%
- Aug: 79.4%
- Sep: 87.4%
- Oct: 89.7%
- Nov: 90.0%
- Dec: 90.0%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 17.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 77.4% from 216 flights
- August 2023: 82.9% from 217 flights
- September 2023: 87.4% from 210 flights
- October 2023: 89.9% from 217 flights
- November 2023: 86.5% from 207 flights
- December 2023: 84.5% from 207 flights
- January 2024: 86.6% from 211 flights
- February 2024: 91.6% from 203 flights
- March 2024: 82.2% from 219 flights
- April 2024: 86.9% from 206 flights
- May 2024: 78.6% from 217 flights
- June 2024: 77.6% from 211 flights
- July 2024: 70.8% from 217 flights
- August 2024: 67.9% from 190 flights
- September 2024: 86.0% from 200 flights
- October 2024: 92.1% from 216 flights
- November 2024: 94.6% from 204 flights
- December 2024: 95.0% from 200 flights
- January 2025: 92.6% from 191 flights
- February 2025: 88.8% from 165 flights
- March 2025: 80.4% from 186 flights
- April 2025: 81.1% from 207 flights
- May 2025: 76.2% from 213 flights
- June 2025: 83.1% from 205 flights
- July 2025: 75.1% from 212 flights
- August 2025: 86.9% from 179 flights
- September 2025: 89.1% from 159 flights
- October 2025: 86.7% from 180 flights
- November 2025: 89.1% from 193 flights
- December 2025: 90.6% from 204 flights
- January 2026: 82.5% from 177 flights
- February 2026: 83.6% from 174 flights
- March 2026: 81.0% from 212 flights
- April 2026: 93.7% from 208 flights
- May 2026: 88.2% from 214 flights
- June 2026: 85.0% from 208 flights
- July 2026: 66.8% from 216 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 85.1% against 84.4% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,471 PHX → PHL 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