Airport month record
PHLAUG
Philadelphia International in August 2025
- Departures
- 9,120
- Month
- August 2025
- National, same month
- 77.4%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for August 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s August. For today’s conditions at PHL, see live FAA status.
PHL in August sits in the middle of the pack with a C. About seven flights in ten arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 5 points worse than the national rate of 77.4%. The late ones land a little over an hour behind schedule. That rests on 9,120 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 573 at 84.2% on time.
Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 84.2% on time across 573 flights.
Key figures
On time
72.2%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 8,966 completed departures
Avg delay
79 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.30%
Nationally in August: 1.08%
Whole year
75.7%
PHL across all twelve months
These figures cover 9,120 departures from Philadelphia International in August 2025. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
August next to PHL's other months
Against PHL's own year, August ran 4 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 75.7%, which makes it number ten of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for PHL in August, at 1.30% against 2.64% across the year. Either side of it, July ran 65.1% on time and September 82.0%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 9,013 | 65.1% | 103 min | 5.25% | C− |
| August 2025 (this page) | 9,120 | 72.2% | 79 min | 1.30% | C |
| September 2025 | 8,225 | 82.0% | 67 min | 0.53% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 9,306 | 77.5% | 72 min | 0.44% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 7,499 | 77.8% | 80 min | 2.00% | B |
| December 2025 | 7,468 | 65.3% | 80 min | 2.36% | C |
| January 2026 | 7,049 | 75.5% | 84 min | 7.86% | B− |
| February 2026 | 6,686 | 80.0% | 70 min | 6.09% | B− |
| March 2026 | 7,778 | 76.7% | 86 min | 3.15% | B− |
| April 2026 | 8,692 | 80.8% | 73 min | 0.68% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 9,251 | 80.7% | 74 min | 1.09% | B |
| June 2026 | 9,707 | 74.4% | 85 min | 2.73% | C |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave PHL in August
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 26 points, against 16 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,064 flights87.5%
- 8am–11am2,069 flights82.9%
- 11am–2pm1,356 flights77.3%
- 2pm–5pm1,435 flights64.8%
- 5pm–8pm2,352 flights61.3%
- 8pm–5am844 flights61.8%
Scale runs 55% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 5pm–8pm window is where this operation falls apart: 61.3% on time, against 87.5% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 5pm–8pm window is the busiest, with 2,352 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 80.1% on time and Sunday the weakest at 67.7%. 12 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at PHL in August
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 84.2% of the time; American Airlines manages 68.6%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 4,718 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 4,718 | 68.6% | 79 min | 1.10% | C |
| PSA Airlines | 1,156 | 77.8% | 92 min | 2.51% | B |
| Frontier Airlines | 769 | 72.0% | 72 min | 1.30% | C |
| Republic Airways | 585 | 77.1% | 67 min | 1.37% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 573 | 84.2% | 88 min | 1.57% | B |
| Southwest Airlines | 445 | 75.3% | 81 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 350 | 80.3% | 89 min | 2.57% | B |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 338 | 67.6% | 61 min | 0.30% | C+ |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 124 | 68.9% | 70 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 62 | 60.7% | 46 min | 1.61% | D |
The spread between Delta and American is 16 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 16 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of PHL in August
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHL to ATL · Atlanta | 508 | 77.7% | 60 min | 1.97% | B |
| PHL to MCO · Orlando | 454 | 63.8% | 75 min | 0.22% | D+ |
| PHL to ORD · Chicago | 439 | 66.9% | 98 min | 3.19% | C− |
| PHL to BOS · Boston | 406 | 77.0% | 76 min | 1.48% | B |
| PHL to DEN · Denverthin sample | 309 | 76.6% | 83 min | 0.65% | B+ |
| PHL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 290 | 69.4% | 68 min | 2.41% | C |
| PHL to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 285 | 75.0% | 79 min | 1.40% | B |
| PHL to MIA · Miamithin sample | 269 | 68.4% | 86 min | 0.37% | C+ |
| PHL to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 268 | 80.8% | 80 min | 1.12% | B |
| PHL to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 253 | 65.9% | 64 min | 0.40% | C+ |
| PHL to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 252 | 75.7% | 80 min | 0.40% | B+ |
| PHL to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 246 | 76.4% | 65 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHL to TPA · Tampathin sample | 202 | 65.0% | 79 min | 0.50% | C+ |
| PHL to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 201 | 65.0% | 76 min | 0.50% | C+ |
| PHL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 177 | 75.1% | 88 min | 1.13% | B |
| PHL to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 170 | 73.5% | 102 min | 1.76% | C |
| PHL to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 169 | 76.8% | 83 min | 2.96% | B |
| PHL to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 167 | 72.3% | 59 min | 0.60% | C+ |
| PHL to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 156 | 75.5% | 88 min | 0.64% | B+ |
| PHL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 152 | 78.9% | 74 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHL to JAX · Jacksonvillethin sample | 145 | 70.8% | 73 min | 0.69% | C+ |
| PHL to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 142 | 68.6% | 67 min | 1.41% | C |
| PHL to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 142 | 72.5% | 72 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| PHL to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 139 | 59.0% | 72 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| PHL to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 136 | 65.7% | 50 min | 1.47% | C |
Delay causes
What held PHL up in August
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 46% of the 196,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 46%Late-arriving aircraft
- 34%Carrier
- 18%National Airspace System
- 2%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
46% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 196,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 22 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 195,941 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.30% against a national 1.08%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.38%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 11.1% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 8.2% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from PHL in August
For a August trip through PHL: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 87.5% on time, and with 11.1% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in September would.
Related
Where to go next
- Philadelphia International (PHL), the whole year
- PHL in July65.1%
- PHL in September82.0%
- PHL in October77.5%
- PHL in November77.8%
- PHL in December65.3%
- PHL in January75.5%
- PHL in February80.0%
- PHL in March76.7%
- PHL in April80.8%
- PHL in May80.7%
- PHL in June74.4%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.