Airport month record
PHXMAR
Phoenix Sky Harbor International in March 2026
- Departures
- 19,277
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at PHX, see live FAA status.
PHX in March lands a B+, about a point better than the national rate of 75.7%. About one flight in four arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That rests on 19,277 flights, of which Alaska Airlines flew 606 at 87.4% on time.
Alaska Airlines is the most reliable of the eight carriers covered here at 87.4% on time across 606 flights.
Key figures
On time
76.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 19,031 completed departures
Avg delay
65 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.92%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
77.9%
PHX across all twelve months
These figures cover 19,277 departures from Phoenix Sky Harbor International in March 2026. 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
March next to PHX's other months
Against PHX's own year, March ran about a point worse than the twelve-month rate of 77.9%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, February ran 83.4% on time and April 80.8%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 13,772 | 83.0% | 74 min | 1.09% | B |
| October 2025 | 16,620 | 78.8% | 59 min | 0.21% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 16,887 | 78.0% | 63 min | 2.21% | B |
| December 2025 | 17,689 | 78.4% | 59 min | 0.50% | B+ |
| January 2026 | 16,564 | 81.6% | 64 min | 2.34% | B |
| February 2026 | 15,656 | 83.4% | 58 min | 0.71% | B+ |
| March 2026 (this page) | 19,277 | 76.8% | 65 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| April 2026 | 17,679 | 80.8% | 57 min | 0.29% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 17,337 | 77.0% | 58 min | 0.30% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 15,685 | 72.4% | 65 min | 0.43% | C+ |
| July 2026 | 16,096 | 70.0% | 69 min | 0.89% | C+ |
| August 2026 | 14,757 | 75.2% | 65 min | 0.54% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave PHX in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 17 points, against 16 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am2,336 flights89.8%
- 8am–11am4,261 flights78.3%
- 11am–2pm3,106 flights74.6%
- 2pm–5pm3,401 flights74.3%
- 5pm–8pm2,958 flights72.5%
- 8pm–5am3,215 flights74.2%
Scale runs 65% to 95%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 89.8% of the time, against 72.5% for the evening window. That is 17 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 4,261 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 79.8% on time and Sunday the weakest at 73.9%, a spread of 6 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at PHX in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Alaska Airlines arrives on time 87.4% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 71.8%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 6,343 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 6,343 | 71.8% | 49 min | 0.79% | C+ |
| American Airlines | 5,301 | 78.3% | 67 min | 0.94% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 3,058 | 78.9% | 92 min | 0.59% | B+ |
| United Airlines | 991 | 80.8% | 88 min | 0.71% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 966 | 84.8% | 89 min | 2.90% | B |
| Frontier Airlines | 952 | 72.8% | 85 min | 1.37% | C |
| Envoy Air | 876 | 85.1% | 43 min | 0.34% | A+ |
| Alaska Airlines | 606 | 87.4% | 62 min | 1.32% | A |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 154 | 50.0% | 57 min | 0.00% | F+ |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 30 | 76.7% | 86 min | 0.00% | B+ |
The spread between Alaska and Southwest 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 PHX in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHX to DEN · Denver | 922 | 74.6% | 70 min | 0.54% | C+ |
| PHX to SEA · Seattle | 685 | 80.1% | 58 min | 2.04% | B |
| PHX to LAX · Los Angeles | 680 | 83.7% | 64 min | 0.59% | B+ |
| PHX to ORD · Chicago | 586 | 72.8% | 100 min | 2.56% | C |
| PHX to SLC · Salt Lake City | 581 | 85.5% | 65 min | 0.52% | A+ |
| PHX to LAS · Las Vegas | 538 | 77.8% | 66 min | 0.37% | B+ |
| PHX to SAN · San Diego | 505 | 76.0% | 61 min | 0.20% | B+ |
| PHX to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 487 | 78.7% | 58 min | 1.44% | B |
| PHX to SFO · San Francisco | 454 | 83.2% | 61 min | 0.22% | B+ |
| PHX to SNA · Santa Ana | 429 | 82.6% | 43 min | 0.70% | B+ |
| PHX to PDX · Portland | 411 | 81.1% | 53 min | 0.73% | B+ |
| PHX to TUS · Tucsonthin sample | 360 | 81.9% | 115 min | 0.28% | B+ |
| PHX to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 355 | 79.9% | 60 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| PHX to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 351 | 77.4% | 76 min | 1.71% | B |
| PHX to AUS · Austinthin sample | 348 | 71.2% | 51 min | 0.29% | C+ |
| PHX to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 337 | 83.2% | 86 min | 4.15% | B− |
| PHX to ABQ · Albuquerquethin sample | 305 | 82.2% | 49 min | 0.33% | B+ |
| PHX to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 301 | 74.1% | 93 min | 1.99% | C |
| PHX to SJC · San Josethin sample | 299 | 87.6% | 79 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| PHX to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 289 | 72.0% | 66 min | 2.08% | C |
| PHX to BUR · Burbankthin sample | 288 | 80.1% | 69 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to ONT · Ontariothin sample | 288 | 79.5% | 54 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 283 | 61.1% | 59 min | 3.18% | D− |
| PHX to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 279 | 90.3% | 59 min | 0.72% | A+ |
| PHX to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 272 | 70.9% | 60 min | 0.74% | C+ |
Delay causes
What held PHX up in March
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 288,000 reported delay minutes.
- 41%Carrier
- 40%Late-arriving aircraft
- 17%National Airspace System
- 2%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
40% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 288,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 20 to one. The split is drawn from 287,518 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 0.92% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.36%.
7.4% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%, so a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from PHX in March
For a March trip through PHX: expect 76.8% on time and 0.92% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX), the whole year
- PHX in September83.0%
- PHX in October78.8%
- PHX in November78.0%
- PHX in December78.4%
- PHX in January81.6%
- PHX in February83.4%
- PHX in April80.8%
- PHX in May77.0%
- PHX in June72.4%
- PHX in July70.0%
- PHX in August75.2%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.