Philadelphia to Nashville

What the Data Says About PHL to BNA

The Philadelphia to Nashville corridor (PHL → BNA) covers roughly 675 miles and is served by 47 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 14,797 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 73.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,483 flights were recorded on this pairing — 89 cancelled (1.6%) and 14 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 47 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 14,797 total flights analyzed, the 81.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 73.0-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 91% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 64% on-time — a 27-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PHL to BNA route, the combination of a 81.9% on-time rate, 73.0-minute average delay, 1.6% recent cancellation rate, and 47 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.