SFO → PHX Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · SFONo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:56 UTC

San Francisco airport profile →

Destination · PHXNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:51 UTC

Phoenix airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

64/ 100Good

Better than 45% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 14,528 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

76.4%

11,022 of 14,425

Cancellation rate

0.57%

83 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-5 min

Average 11.1 min

Severe delays

8.2%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

74 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

14,528

5 carriers

SFO → PHX arrives on time 76.4% of the time; the return trip, PHX → SFO, arrives on time 70.1% of the time, a 6.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

SFO → PHX spends 25.7 minutes on the ground on a 651-mile trip: 17.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SFO and 8.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at PHX.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

The airline matters unusually much on this route, a wider carrier-to-carrier gap than 99% of 2,692 comparable routes.

SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 89.0% of the time, against 59.1% for Frontier Airlines, flying the exact same route.

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 2,692 in the comparison.

Why SFO → PHX flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

SFO → PHX cancelled 83 of 14,528 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 175. The reason filed most often was the airline, 57.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 303 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Airline57.8%

Weather27.7%

Air traffic14.5%

Security0.0%

Of 83 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

The airline1 in 303

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

48 cancellations, 57.8% of the total.

Extreme weather1 in 632

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

23 cancellations, 27.7% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 1,211

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

12 cancellations, 14.5% of the total.

Security—

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.

83 coded cancellations were recorded on SFO → PHX; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

49 min late

against a median of 5 min early

Arrived an hour or more late8.2%

Typical delay when late74 min

Cancelled0.57%

Landed somewhere else0.14%

Percentiles over 14,528 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at PHX after arriving from SFO.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, SFO → PHX arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	39%	Likely to miss
45 min	23%	High risk
60 min	16%	High risk
90 min	8.0%	Some risk
120 min	4.7%	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 0.57% of the time and diverts 0.14% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 14,425 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 49 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 14,528 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

SFO → PHX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 93.4% of the time, against 69.7% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 23.7 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (SFO).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 10.3 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 3.5 points.

On-time arrival rate for SFO to PHX by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

50–59
60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures after 8 PM (1,089 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for SFO to PHX. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	96.0% on time173 flights	98.1% on time156 flights	98.3% on time173 flights	93.4% on time181 flights	96.1% on time179 flights	97.3% on time188 flights	95.8% on time191 flights
6 AM–7 AM	92.5% on time120 flights	94 flights, too few to score	87 flights, too few to score	116 flights, too few to score	115 flights, too few to score	113 flights, too few to score	98 flights, too few to score
7 AM–8 AM	87 flights, too few to score	45 flights, too few to score	57 flights, too few to score	87 flights, too few to score	92 flights, too few to score	66 flights, too few to score	86 flights, too few to score
8 AM–9 AM	103 flights, too few to score	89 flights, too few to score	97 flights, too few to score	112 flights, too few to score	106 flights, too few to score	96 flights, too few to score	103 flights, too few to score
9 AM–10 AM	77.9% on time150 flights	84.4% on time130 flights	79.7% on time129 flights	81.8% on time143 flights	84.5% on time142 flights	81.6% on time141 flights	81.0% on time143 flights
10 AM–11 AM	62.6% on time140 flights	74.3% on time148 flights	69.2% on time143 flights	67.1% on time143 flights	69.2% on time148 flights	66.3% on time180 flights	57.5% on time168 flights
11 AM–12 PM	112 flights, too few to score	76.3% on time136 flights	65.4% on time130 flights	110 flights, too few to score	115 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score	112 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	67.8% on time212 flights	77.8% on time176 flights	78.1% on time178 flights	76.0% on time204 flights	68.4% on time208 flights	79.5% on time163 flights	66.3% on time185 flights
1 PM–2 PM	92 flights, too few to score	73 flights, too few to score	73 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	80 flights, too few to score	70 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	58 flights, too few to score	65 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score	33 flights, too few to score	46 flights, too few to score	74 flights, too few to score	70 flights, too few to score
3 PM–4 PM	62.4% on time135 flights	67.2% on time137 flights	70.8% on time137 flights	60.2% on time128 flights	56.0% on time135 flights	110 flights, too few to score	111 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	70.7% on time249 flights	83.4% on time242 flights	77.1% on time249 flights	73.3% on time253 flights	68.4% on time254 flights	80.6% on time263 flights	72.9% on time248 flights
5 PM–6 PM	41 flights, too few to score	45 flights, too few to score	47 flights, too few to score	39 flights, too few to score	39 flights, too few to score	28 flights, too few to score	40 flights, too few to score
6 PM–7 PM	69.5% on time193 flights	107 flights, too few to score	80.0% on time141 flights	66.1% on time228 flights	70.3% on time209 flights	74.4% on time132 flights	68.2% on time234 flights
7 PM–8 PM	75.2% on time135 flights	112 flights, too few to score	118 flights, too few to score	72.6% on time137 flights	74.0% on time132 flights	113 flights, too few to score	73.1% on time146 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM93.4%

9 AM–12 PM72.7%

12–3 PM70.1%

3–6 PM70.3%

6–9 PM73.4%

9 PM–5 AM69.7%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why SFO → PHX runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft60.9%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline29.8%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control8.1%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather1.1%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for SFO → PHX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SFO → PHX, at 60.9%: 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 69.7%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

The harder-hit end is PHX, where the flight lands. Its figure counts departures from PHX, so it says more about how that airport copes than about this route. Bad weather cancels 3.9 times the normal rate at PHX against 1.7 times at SFO. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: SFO 1.5% against 0.9%, PHX 2.5% against 0.6%. Flights that did leave PHX in bad weather arrived on time 53.7% of the time, against 80.6% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from SFO and PHX in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	SFO	PHX
Cancelled in bad weather	1.5%	2.5%
Cancelled in normal hours	0.9%	0.6%
Arrived on time, bad weather	73.0%	53.7%
Arrived on time, normal hours	79.8%	80.6%
Departures in bad weather	36,006	6,215

Of the carriers on this route, United Airlines (1.0% cancelled against 1.9% for the other carriers at SFO) cancelled the fewest departures from SFO in bad weather and SkyWest Airlines (3.0% cancelled against 1.2% for the other carriers at SFO) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at SFO

All departures from SFO

Cancellation rates in bad weather at SFO for the airlines that fly SFO to PHX, against the other carriers at SFO in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
United Airlines	13,903	1.0%below the others	1.9%
Southwest Airlines	2,224	1.1%about level	1.5%
American Airlines	3,143	1.2%about level	1.5%
Frontier Airlines	1,057	1.8%about level	1.5%
SkyWest Airlines	7,724	3.0%above the others	1.2%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from SFO and PHX, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from SFO on every route.

Weather source and limits. In full: SFO (airlines), PHX, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
United Airlines	4,172	82.0%	0.48%	-6 min	5.1%
American Airlines	3,980	76.5%	0.45%	-5 min	9.9%
Southwest Airlines	3,331	69.3%	0.33%	0 min	9.3%
SkyWest Airlines	1,641	89.0%	0.30%	-9 min	3.4%
Frontier Airlines	1,164	59.1%	1.89%	3 min	18.8%

United Airlines flew 29.2% of the 14,288 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 1.89% of its flights here against 0.30% for SkyWest Airlines.

SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 29.9 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
AA2414 American Airlines	9:15 AM	628	85.2%
F92638 Frontier Airlines	11:43 AM	626	59.4%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon74.0%

Tue82.5%

Wed79.0%

Thu73.7%

Fri73.4%

Sat80.2%

Sun73.6%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 9.1 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 9.7 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.9% against 80.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.1 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 14,528 SFO → PHX 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

SFO airport PHX airport Return direction PHX → SFO

SFO→PHX

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why SFO → PHX flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why SFO → PHX runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

This route’s airlines in bad weather at SFO

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology