Airport month record
PHXOCT
Phoenix Sky Harbor International in October 2025
- Departures
- 16,620
- Month
- October 2025
- National, same month
- 79.7%
- Carriers
- 12
Historical statistics for October 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s October. For today’s conditions at PHX, see live FAA status.
PHX in October lands a B+, about a point worse than the national rate of 79.7%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That rests on 16,620 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 953 at 87.2% on time.
Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the eight carriers covered here at 87.2% on time across 953 flights.
Key figures
On time
78.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 16,554 completed departures
Avg delay
59 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.21%
Nationally in October: 0.53%
Whole year
77.9%
PHX across all twelve months
These figures cover 16,620 departures from Phoenix Sky Harbor 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 PHX's other months
Against PHX's own year, October ran level with the twelve-month rate of 77.9%, which makes it number five of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for PHX in October, at 0.21% against 0.87% across the year. Either side of it, September ran 83.0% on time and November 78.0%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 13,772 | 83.0% | 74 min | 1.09% | B |
| October 2025 (this page) | 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 | 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 October
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 21 points, against 13 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am2,240 flights91.3%
- 8am–11am4,116 flights81.4%
- 11am–2pm2,785 flights80.3%
- 2pm–5pm3,104 flights74.0%
- 5pm–8pm2,533 flights70.7%
- 8pm–5am1,842 flights74.1%
Scale runs 60% to 95%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 91.3% of the time, against 70.7% for the evening window. That is 21 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 4,116 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 87.6% on time and Sunday the weakest at 64.1%, a spread of 24 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at PHX in October
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 87.2% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 74.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 6,015 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 6,015 | 74.4% | 47 min | 0.10% | C+ |
| American Airlines | 4,789 | 78.8% | 69 min | 0.27% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,715 | 83.6% | 67 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 953 | 87.2% | 87 min | 0.42% | A+ |
| United Airlines | 887 | 80.3% | 52 min | 0.23% | B+ |
| Envoy Air | 872 | 84.3% | 53 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlines | 686 | 82.2% | 87 min | 0.15% | B+ |
| Alaska Airlines | 508 | 82.6% | 54 min | 1.57% | B |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 78 | 66.2% | 87 min | 1.28% | C |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 51 | 76.5% | 144 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 35 | 77.1% | 44 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Hawaiian Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 77.4% | 168 min | 0.00% | B+ |
The spread between Delta and Southwest 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 PHX in October
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHX to DEN · Denver | 802 | 79.5% | 55 min | 0.12% | B+ |
| PHX to LAX · Los Angeles | 667 | 81.2% | 51 min | 0.15% | B+ |
| PHX to SEA · Seattle | 600 | 80.4% | 57 min | 0.50% | B+ |
| PHX to SAN · San Diego | 547 | 74.3% | 51 min | 0.91% | C+ |
| PHX to LAS · Las Vegas | 542 | 77.5% | 72 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to SLC · Salt Lake City | 476 | 83.0% | 54 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to ORD · Chicago | 440 | 78.7% | 57 min | 0.45% | B+ |
| PHX to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 430 | 85.3% | 102 min | 1.40% | A |
| PHX to SFO · San Francisco | 366 | 71.0% | 52 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| PHX to SNA · Santa Anathin sample | 354 | 79.1% | 44 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 322 | 85.6% | 80 min | 0.31% | A+ |
| PHX to AUS · Austinthin sample | 308 | 73.5% | 55 min | 0.32% | C+ |
| PHX to ABQ · Albuquerquethin sample | 306 | 76.1% | 59 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 293 | 76.0% | 50 min | 0.34% | B+ |
| PHX to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 280 | 76.4% | 64 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to BUR · Burbankthin sample | 273 | 71.2% | 58 min | 0.73% | C+ |
| PHX to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 270 | 85.9% | 67 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| PHX to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 266 | 81.9% | 44 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 259 | 72.8% | 52 min | 0.77% | C+ |
| PHX to ONT · Ontariothin sample | 258 | 78.7% | 45 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 254 | 78.7% | 54 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to SJC · San Josethin sample | 253 | 75.0% | 50 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 245 | 90.6% | 64 min | 0.41% | A+ |
| PHX to ELP · El Pasothin sample | 237 | 78.5% | 63 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PHX to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 235 | 78.4% | 90 min | 1.28% | B |
Delay causes
What held PHX up in October
Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 49% of the 208,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 49%Late-arriving aircraft
- 33%Carrier
- 14%National Airspace System
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
49% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 208,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 17 to one. The split is drawn from 208,161 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations are rare at 0.21%, 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.
6.4% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.3%, 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 October
For a October trip through PHX: expect 78.8% on time and 0.21% cancelled, going by October 2025. 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 November78.0%
- PHX in December78.4%
- PHX in January81.6%
- PHX in February83.4%
- PHX in March76.8%
- 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.