Philadelphia to Norfolk

What the Data Says About PHL to ORF

The Philadelphia to Norfolk corridor (PHL → ORF) covers roughly 212 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,344 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 75.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 88.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,708 flights were recorded on this pairing — 40 cancelled (2.3%) and 1 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,344 total flights analyzed, the 75.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 88.7-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 94% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 51% on-time — a 44-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PHL to ORF route, the combination of a 75.9% on-time rate, 88.7-minute average delay, 2.3% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.