Boston to Philadelphia

What the Data Says About BOS to PHL

The Boston to Philadelphia corridor (BOS → PHL) covers roughly 280 miles and is served by 25 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 26,282 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 88.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 10,288 flights were recorded on this pairing — 189 cancelled (1.8%) and 8 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 25 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 26,282 total flights analyzed, the 83.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 88.6-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Oct 2025 came in at 68% on-time — a 21-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BOS to PHL route, the combination of a 83.5% on-time rate, 88.6-minute average delay, 1.8% recent cancellation rate, and 25 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.