According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Phoenix, AZ (AZA) ranks #125 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Phoenix, AZ posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a mid-size U.S. airport.
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AZA on-time rate vs. the national average
Behind the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Phoenix, AZ sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Phoenix, AZ handles more flight
volume than 67% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
11% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and delay-prone.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
Phoenix, AZ vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 70,097 ·
On-time rate: 78.7%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Carrier.
Total delay minutes412,094 min
Carrier189,420 min · 46%
Late Aircraft121,024 min · 29%
NAS (National Aviation System)60,700 min · 15%
Weather38,033 min · 9%
Security2,917 min · 1%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
AZA - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: May (93.4%) · worst: December (87.8%)
AZA - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
AZA - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 14 min · taxi-in 8.3 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
AZA's average taxi-out (14 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 12.9 min (July 2025) to 15.2 min (February 2025).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Phoenix, AZ, both outside Arizona so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Phoenix, AZ is the delay mix: Carrier owns 46.0% of 412,094 delay minutes across 70,097 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 78.7% (0.3 pts below the 79% national average), with 14,946 delayed and 870 cancelled (1.24%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (29.4% late-aircraft, 46.0% carrier, 14.7% NAS, 9.2% weather, 0.7% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, AZA is strongest in May (93.4% on-time) and weakest in December (87.8%), a 5.6-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~1,428 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to PVU (Provo) at 76.7% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Phoenix, AZ vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
78.7%Top 89%higher than 11% of 382 airports
Phoenix, AZ
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
AZA's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from AZA before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in May rather than December if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 14 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Phoenix, AZ's on-time rate?
Phoenix, AZ (AZA) has a 78.7% on-time rate across 70,097 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 0.3 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does AZA rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Phoenix, AZ ranks #125 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a mid-size U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Phoenix, AZ?
Carrier is the leading delay cause at AZA, accounting for 46.0% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 29.4% late-aircraft, 46.0% carrier, 14.7% NAS/air-traffic-control, 9.2% weather, and 0.7% security.
When is the best time to fly through Phoenix, AZ?
May is historically AZA's strongest month at 93.4% on-time, while December is the weakest at 87.8%, a 5.6-point swing across the BTS historical record.