Philadelphia to Charleston

What the Data Says About PHL to CHS

The Philadelphia to Charleston corridor (PHL → CHS) covers roughly 550 miles and is served by 36 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,770 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 79.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,813 flights were recorded on this pairing — 48 cancelled (1.7%) and 3 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 36 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,770 total flights analyzed, the 80.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 79.8-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 89% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 63% on-time — a 26-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PHL to CHS route, the combination of a 80.2% on-time rate, 79.8-minute average delay, 1.7% recent cancellation rate, and 36 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.