Route profile
PHX→SJC
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Phoenix to San Jose, 621 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 82% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,532 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
PHX → SJC arrives on time 81.1% of the time; the return trip, SJC → PHX, arrives on time 84.1% of the time, a 3.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
PHX → SJC spends 18.3 minutes on the ground on a 621-mile trip: 14.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHX and 4.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at SJC.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route holds up about the same all year, a steadier seasonal pattern than 95% of 3,357 comparable routes.
85.4% on time in its best month (September) against 75.9% in its worst (June).
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where PHX to SJC differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
PHX to SJC is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 4 PM: 77.8% arrive on time, 7.5 points ahead of the 70.3% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.1 points.
PHX to SJC holds up on Saturdays better than routes of similar length do: 84.0% on time to their 79.5%, a 4.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 4.9 points.
July is kinder to PHX to SJC than to routes of similar length: 77.1% on time against 69.5%, 7.6 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.4 points.
In October, PHX to SJC runs 4 points below routes of similar length, 79.8% on time to 83.8%. Against all other routes the gap is 3.2 points.
Envoy Air does better on PHX to SJC than on its routes of similar length: 86.2% on time here, 78.8% there, 7.4 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7.1 points.
PHX to SJC against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 4 PM departures | 77.8% | routes of similar length | 70.3% | +7.5 pts | 910 here, 118,297 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 84.0% | routes of similar length | 79.5% | +4.5 pts | 1,123 here, 254,638 there |
| Month: July | 77.1% | routes of similar length | 69.5% | +7.6 pts | 980 here, 231,322 there |
| Month: October | 79.8% | routes of similar length | 83.8% | −4.0 pts | 752 here, 177,499 there |
| Airline: Envoy Air | 86.2% | routes of similar length | 78.8% | +7.4 pts | 708 here, 33,261 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 621 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
33 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 9,532 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SJC after arriving from PHX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 18% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.2% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 2.7% | 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 0.31% of the time and diverts 0.05% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,497 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 33 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,532 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
PHX → SJC flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 93.4% of the time, against 68.7% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 24.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 96.1% on time from 257 flights
- 6 AM: 97.2% on time from 462 flights
- 7 AM: 93.4% on time from 788 flights
- 8 AM: 89.8% on time from 652 flights
- 9 AM: 91.1% on time from 429 flights
- 10 AM: 84.7% on time from 850 flights
- 11 AM: 87.3% on time from 753 flights
- 12 PM: 88.1% on time from 159 flights
- 1 PM: 79.6% on time from 409 flights
- 2 PM: 75.2% on time from 315 flights
- 3 PM: 79.5% on time from 338 flights
- 4 PM: 77.8% on time from 913 flights
- 5 PM: 74.6% on time from 613 flights
- 6 PM: 68.1% on time from 457 flights
- 7 PM: 69.7% on time from 323 flights
- 8 PM: 71.0% on time from 1,129 flights
- 9 PM: 70.3% on time from 650 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why PHX → SJC 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 → SJC. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHX → SJC, at 56.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 93.4% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 68.7%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 5,844 | 80.2% | 0.31% | -4 min | 4.9% |
| American Airlines | 1,614 | 77.6% | 0.37% | -5 min | 8.2% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,176 | 86.4% | 0.26% | -8 min | 4.6% |
| Envoy Air | 710 | 86.2% | 0.28% | -5 min | 3.4% |
Southwest Airlines flew 62.5% of the 9,344 flights listed.
SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 8.8 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Phoenix to San Francisco
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHX→SFO Phoenix to San Francisco | 14,538 | 70.1% | 0.54% | -1 min | 55 |
| PHX→SJC this route Phoenix to San Jose | 9,532 | 81.1% | 0.31% | -5 min | 77 |
PHX → SJC is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 81.1% on time, against 70.1% for PHX → SFO.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Monday the least, a gap of 6.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 83.8%
- Feb: 84.3%
- Mar: 81.8%
- Apr: 80.7%
- May: 76.8%
- Jun: 75.9%
- Jul: 77.1%
- Aug: 80.3%
- Sep: 85.4%
- Oct: 79.8%
- Nov: 84.8%
- Dec: 84.2%
June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 9.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 74.1% from 232 flights
- August 2023: 77.0% from 237 flights
- September 2023: 82.9% from 216 flights
- October 2023: 79.6% from 207 flights
- November 2023: 89.2% from 231 flights
- December 2023: 91.9% from 247 flights
- January 2024: 77.6% from 232 flights
- February 2024: 83.9% from 237 flights
- March 2024: 77.7% from 293 flights
- April 2024: 84.5% from 291 flights
- May 2024: 79.4% from 296 flights
- June 2024: 80.2% from 273 flights
- July 2024: 83.0% from 283 flights
- August 2024: 84.1% from 283 flights
- September 2024: 84.1% from 259 flights
- October 2024: 84.0% from 295 flights
- November 2024: 87.1% from 302 flights
- December 2024: 86.1% from 296 flights
- January 2025: 88.4% from 242 flights
- February 2025: 87.3% from 245 flights
- March 2025: 80.1% from 311 flights
- April 2025: 81.4% from 285 flights
- May 2025: 77.9% from 264 flights
- June 2025: 78.2% from 240 flights
- July 2025: 79.4% from 248 flights
- August 2025: 78.9% from 209 flights
- September 2025: 89.9% from 201 flights
- October 2025: 75.0% from 253 flights
- November 2025: 78.3% from 271 flights
- December 2025: 75.3% from 276 flights
- January 2026: 85.2% from 247 flights
- February 2026: 81.7% from 253 flights
- March 2026: 87.6% from 299 flights
- April 2026: 75.9% from 272 flights
- May 2026: 72.9% from 269 flights
- June 2026: 67.7% from 218 flights
- July 2026: 70.2% from 219 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.3% against 83.2% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,532 PHX → SJC 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