Route profile
TPA→PHL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Tampa to Philadelphia, 920 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 13% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,235 flights. How this is calculated
TPA → PHL arrives on time 75.6% of the time; the return trip, PHL → TPA, arrives on time 74.0% of the time.
TPA → PHL spends 25.9 minutes on the ground on a 920-mile trip: 16.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at TPA and 9.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at PHL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 95% of 5,368 comparable routes.
74.4% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 74.1% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where TPA to PHL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
TPA to PHL struggles most at 9 PM: 54.2% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 11.7 points behind the 65.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 15.3 points.
TPA to PHL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 AM: 91.4% arrive on time, 3 points ahead of the 88.4% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 3.6 points.
Monday is the day TPA to PHL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 72.8% on time where they average 76.7%, 3.9 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.5 points.
In March, TPA to PHL runs 6.8 points below routes of similar length, 70.0% on time to 76.8%. Against all other routes the gap is 7.9 points.
American Airlines does better on TPA to PHL than on its routes of similar length: 76.7% on time here, 73.9% there, 2.8 points apart.
TPA to PHL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 54.2% | routes of similar length | 65.9% | −11.7 pts | 203 here, 81,207 there |
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 91.4% | routes of similar length | 88.4% | +3.0 pts | 1,049 here, 224,144 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 72.8% | routes of similar length | 76.7% | −3.9 pts | 1,169 here, 418,905 there |
| Month: March | 70.0% | routes of similar length | 76.8% | −6.8 pts | 888 here, 243,599 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 76.7% | routes of similar length | 73.9% | +2.8 pts | 4,888 here, 498,742 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 920 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 TPA → PHL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
TPA → PHL cancelled 179 of 8,235 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 46. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 76.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 61 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 179 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.
136 cancellations, 76.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
37 cancellations, 20.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
6 cancellations, 3.4% 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.
179 coded cancellations were recorded on TPA → PHL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
65 min late
against a median of 6 min early
TPA → PHL has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 6 min early, but the worst tenth are 71 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 8,235 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at PHL after arriving from TPA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 38% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 18% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.0% | 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 2.17% of the time and diverts 0.18% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,041 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 65 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,235 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
TPA → PHL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.0% of the time, against 62.3% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 29.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 93.2% on time from 181 flights
- 6 AM: 94.0% on time from 276 flights
- 7 AM: 91.4% on time from 1,080 flights
- 8 AM: 91.0% on time from 201 flights
- 9 AM: 85.2% on time from 669 flights
- 10 AM: 82.9% on time from 827 flights
- 11 AM: 81.8% on time from 367 flights
- 12 PM: 72.6% on time from 1,025 flights
- 1 PM: 77.4% on time from 193 flights
- 2 PM: 69.7% on time from 571 flights
- 3 PM: 60.6% on time from 776 flights
- 4 PM: 57.1% on time from 207 flights
- 5 PM: 65.5% on time from 737 flights
- 6 PM: 62.6% on time from 320 flights
- 7 PM: 61.7% on time from 212 flights
- 8 PM: too few flights to score
- 9 PM: 54.2% on time from 223 flights
- 10 PM: 68.0% on time from 301 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why TPA → 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 TPA → PHL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on TPA → PHL, at 60.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 92.0% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 62.3%.
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 | 5,000 | 76.7% | 2.02% | -6 min | 10.5% |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,622 | 73.9% | 2.67% | -7 min | 12.4% |
| Southwest Airlines | 400 | 71.3% | 1.75% | 1 min | 7.7% |
| Spirit Airlines | 213 | 78.3% | 0.47% | -6 min | 7.5% |
American Airlines flew 60.7% of the 8,235 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.67% of its flights here against 0.47% for Spirit Airlines.
Spirit Airlines arrived on time 7.0 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| F92340 Frontier Airlines | 12:50 PM | 661 | 72.5% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 74.8%
- Feb: 79.7%
- Mar: 70.0%
- Apr: 81.4%
- May: 73.7%
- Jun: 72.1%
- Jul: 66.3%
- Aug: 69.6%
- Sep: 83.8%
- Oct: 82.4%
- Nov: 83.0%
- Dec: 73.0%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 17.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 67.2% from 192 flights
- August 2023: 78.6% from 218 flights
- September 2023: 81.7% from 211 flights
- October 2023: 86.0% from 224 flights
- November 2023: 87.0% from 231 flights
- December 2023: 79.7% from 261 flights
- January 2024: 75.9% from 245 flights
- February 2024: 85.6% from 230 flights
- March 2024: 72.0% from 287 flights
- April 2024: 86.9% from 237 flights
- May 2024: 73.5% from 223 flights
- June 2024: 72.4% from 190 flights
- July 2024: 61.6% from 185 flights
- August 2024: 63.9% from 213 flights
- September 2024: 80.0% from 199 flights
- October 2024: 83.8% from 214 flights
- November 2024: 81.0% from 210 flights
- December 2024: 71.8% from 206 flights
- January 2025: 76.0% from 198 flights
- February 2025: 78.8% from 202 flights
- March 2025: 69.7% from 302 flights
- April 2025: 77.5% from 314 flights
- May 2025: 67.5% from 234 flights
- June 2025: 73.6% from 179 flights
- July 2025: 65.9% from 179 flights
- August 2025: 66.0% from 202 flights
- September 2025: 90.6% from 171 flights
- October 2025: 77.2% from 203 flights
- November 2025: 80.7% from 201 flights
- December 2025: 65.9% from 211 flights
- January 2026: 71.9% from 199 flights
- February 2026: 74.7% from 243 flights
- March 2026: 68.6% from 317 flights
- April 2026: 81.2% from 253 flights
- May 2026: 80.2% from 229 flights
- June 2026: 70.6% from 206 flights
- July 2026: 69.9% from 216 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 74.4% against 74.1% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,235 TPA → 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