Kansas City to Phoenix

What the Data Says About MCI to PHX

The Kansas City to Phoenix corridor (MCI → PHX) covers roughly 1,044 miles and is served by 29 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 13,136 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 74.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,089 flights were recorded on this pairing — 42 cancelled (0.8%) and 7 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 29 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 13,136 total flights analyzed, the 83.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 74.8-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 73% on-time — a 20-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MCI to PHX route, the combination of a 83.5% on-time rate, 74.8-minute average delay, 0.8% recent cancellation rate, and 29 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.