Palm Springs to Phoenix

What the Data Says About PSP to PHX

The Palm Springs to Phoenix corridor (PSP → PHX) covers roughly 261 miles and is served by 25 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 10,035 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 84.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 88.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,231 flights were recorded on this pairing — 15 cancelled (0.5%) and 2 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 10,035 total flights analyzed, the 84.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 88.5-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, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Mar 2025 came in at 73% on-time — a 20-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the PSP to PHX route, the combination of a 84.5% on-time rate, 88.5-minute average delay, 0.5% recent cancellation rate, and 25 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.