According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Phoenix, AZ (PHX) ranks #7 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Phoenix, AZ posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
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PHX on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of 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 98% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
30% 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): 2,030,209 ·
On-time rate: 81.7%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes11,045,046 min
Late Aircraft4,938,816 min · 45%
Carrier4,315,213 min · 39%
NAS (National Aviation System)1,512,272 min · 14%
Weather257,295 min · 2%
Security21,450 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
PHX - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: January (92.4%) · worst: July (87.3%)
PHX - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
PHX - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 15.9 min · taxi-in 7.4 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
PHX's average taxi-out (15.9 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 14.6 min (July 2025) to 17.1 min (October 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 traffic scale: 2,030,209 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #7 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 81.7% on-time rate (2.7 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average), 372,174 delayed departures, and 15,535 cancellations (0.77% of the book).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (44.7% late-aircraft, 39.1% carrier, 13.7% NAS, 2.3% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, PHX is strongest in January (92.4% on-time) and weakest in July (87.3%), a 5.1-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~32,437 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DEN (Denver) at 80.7% 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
81.7%Top 70%higher than 30% 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.
PHX'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 PHX before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in January rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 15.9 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 (PHX) has a 81.7% on-time rate across 2,030,209 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.7 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the below-median on-time performance.
How does PHX rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Phoenix, AZ ranks #7 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at Phoenix, AZ?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at PHX, accounting for 44.7% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 44.7% late-aircraft, 39.1% carrier, 13.7% NAS/air-traffic-control, 2.3% weather, and 0.2% security.
When is the best time to fly through Phoenix, AZ?
January is historically PHX's strongest month at 92.4% on-time, while July is the weakest at 87.3%, a 5.1-point swing across the BTS historical record.