Airport month record

PHLOCT

Philadelphia International in October 2025

Departures: 9,306
Month: October 2025
National, same month: 79.7%
Carriers: 10

Historical statistics for October 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s October. For today’s conditions at PHL, see live FAA status.

PHL in October lands a B+, 2 points worse than the national rate of 79.7%. Roughly one flight in four arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 9,306 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 563 at 87.9% on time.

Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the seven carriers covered here at 87.9% on time across 563 flights.

On time

77.5%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 9,251 completed departures

Avg delay

72 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.44%

Nationally in October: 0.53%

Whole year

75.7%

PHL across all twelve months

These figures cover 9,306 departures from Philadelphia International in October 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

October next to PHL's other months

Against PHL's own year, October ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 75.7%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for PHL in October, at 0.44% against 2.64% across the year. Either side of it, September ran 82.0% on time and November 77.8%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.

PHL month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	9,013	65.1%	103 min	5.25%	C−
August 2025	9,120	72.2%	79 min	1.30%	C
September 2025	8,225	82.0%	67 min	0.53%	B+
October 2025 (this page)	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 October

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 23 points, against 13 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,132 flights91.6%
8am–11am2,243 flights82.9%
11am–2pm1,351 flights78.0%
2pm–5pm1,511 flights72.8%
5pm–8pm2,195 flights69.0%
8pm–5am874 flights73.7%

Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 91.6% of the time, against 69.0% for the evening window. That is 23 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 2,243 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 87.3% on time and Monday the weakest at 69.8%. 18 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at PHL in October

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 87.9% of the time; American Airlines manages 74.9%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 4,450 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at PHL in October 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
American Airlines	4,450	74.9%	75 min	0.31%	C+
PSA Airlines	1,580	77.8%	74 min	0.63%	B+
Frontier Airlines	720	79.1%	77 min	0.28%	B+
Republic Airways	671	79.6%	71 min	0.60%	B+
Delta Air Lines	563	87.9%	55 min	0.18%	A+
Southwest Airlines	469	77.9%	46 min	0.43%	B+
United Airlines	383	82.5%	68 min	0.00%	B+
Spirit Airlinesthin sample	234	84.0%	59 min	1.28%	B
JetBlue Airwaysthin sample	174	73.7%	76 min	1.72%	C
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	62	63.3%	52 min	3.23%	D−

The spread between Delta and American is 13 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 13 more arrivals inside the on-time window.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of PHL in October

Routes from PHL in October 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
PHL to ATL · Atlanta	473	82.8%	69 min	0.21%	B+
PHL to BOS · Boston	462	64.6%	87 min	1.52%	D
PHL to MCO · Orlando	457	75.9%	71 min	0.66%	B+
PHL to ORD · Chicago	441	74.9%	91 min	0.45%	C+
PHL to CLT · Charlottethin sample	308	80.8%	75 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	303	84.0%	85 min	0.99%	B+
PHL to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	285	73.4%	78 min	0.70%	C+
PHL to DTW · Detroitthin sample	282	86.5%	79 min	0.00%	A+
PHL to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample	258	83.2%	60 min	0.78%	B+
PHL to DEN · Denverthin sample	248	80.6%	59 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to MIA · Miamithin sample	246	80.0%	65 min	0.41%	B+
PHL to RDU · Raleighthin sample	244	74.1%	81 min	0.41%	C+
PHL to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	243	83.5%	57 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to TPA · Tampathin sample	203	74.3%	93 min	0.49%	C+
PHL to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	192	83.8%	68 min	0.52%	B+
PHL to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	180	80.6%	34 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	180	83.1%	46 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample	172	74.9%	79 min	0.58%	C+
PHL to IND · Indianapolisthin sample	166	73.3%	61 min	0.60%	C+
PHL to CMH · Columbusthin sample	166	77.4%	61 min	1.20%	B
PHL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	162	83.3%	76 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to IAH · Houstonthin sample	161	85.0%	76 min	0.62%	A+
PHL to MDW · Chicagothin sample	155	76.8%	44 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to STL · St. Louisthin sample	147	81.6%	89 min	0.00%	B+
PHL to JAX · Jacksonvillethin sample	135	71.6%	99 min	0.00%	C+

Delay causes

What held PHL up in October

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 50% of the 150,000 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.

Late-arriving aircraft
50%
Carrier
28%
National Airspace System
21%
Extreme weather
1%
Security
0%

50% 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 150,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 44 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 149,650 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.44%, below the national 0.53% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

8.3% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.3%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from PHL in October

For a October trip through PHL: expect 77.5% on time and 0.44% cancelled, going by October 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Philadelphia International (PHL), the whole year
PHL in July65.1%
PHL in August72.2%
PHL in September82.0%
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.

Key figures