Best time to fly out of Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Phoenix Sky Harbor: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 92.7% of the time, against 68.9% in the 6–8pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 92 | 93 | 93 | 94 | 91 | 90 | 92 |
| 6–8am | 92 | 94 | 94 | 93 | 92 | 92 | 92 |
| 8–10am | 86 | 88 | 89 | 87 | 86 | 87 | 87 |
| 10am–12pm | 81 | 84 | 85 | 82 | 81 | 84 | 82 |
| 12–2pm | 77 | 82 | 82 | 78 | 77 | 80 | 77 |
| 2–4pm | 72 | 79 | 78 | 72 | 71 | 76 | 71 |
| 4–6pm | 71 | 78 | 76 | 70 | 69 | 75 | 67 |
| 6–8pm | 67 | 76 | 74 | 65 | 66 | 72 | 64 |
| 8–10pm | 72 | 77 | 76 | 69 | 69 | 74 | 67 |
| 10pm–12am | 78 | 85 | 82 | 75 | 75 | 80 | 71 |
The steadiest stretch at PHX was 6–8am — 92.7% of departures left on time across 57,859 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 68.9%. 6–8am departures from PHX left on time 92.7% of the time across 57,859 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.9% across 58,657. That is a gap of 23.8 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at PHX
June was the hard month at PHX: 72.9% of departures left on time, across 46,603 flights. September was the easy one at 83.1%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 81.9% | 47,898 |
| February | 82.9% | 45,937 |
| March | 78.5% | 55,914 |
| April | 79.9% | 52,398 |
| May | 76.2% | 51,301 |
| June | 72.9% | 46,603 |
| July | 73% | 45,499 |
| August | 79.3% | 44,100 |
| September | 83.1% | 43,138 |
| October | 80.6% | 49,101 |
| November | 82.3% | 49,506 |
| December | 80.4% | 51,027 |
Airlines at PHX
Every airline with at least 100 departures from PHX, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 73.2% | 47 min | 0.6% | 200,703 |
| American Airlines | 80.2% | 76 min | 0.7% | 166,201 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 84.7% | 74 min | 0.4% | 78,954 |
| Delta Air Lines | 86.3% | 80 min | 0.7% | 31,682 |
| United Airlines | 85% | 79 min | 1% | 30,333 |
| Frontier Airlines | 79% | 80 min | 1.1% | 25,628 |
| Envoy Air | 87% | 54 min | 0.4% | 25,593 |
| Alaska Airlines | 84.7% | 53 min | 1% | 15,601 |
| JetBlue Airways | 67.7% | 94 min | 1.5% | 3,140 |
| Spirit Airlines | 74.4% | 75 min | 1.8% | 2,495 |
| Allegiant Air | 74.6% | 94 min | 0.8% | 1,177 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 89.2% | 116 min | 0.1% | 915 |
Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) and Hawaiian Airlines (through December 2025) stopped filing before June 2026. Their rows cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so their figures are not set against the others anywhere on this page.
What delays out of PHX were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 111,956 flights that departed PHX and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 44.6% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 37.8% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 44.6%
- Airline operations 37.8%
- Air traffic & airport volume 15%
- Severe weather 2.4%
- Security 0.2%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through PHX
Of 582,407 scheduled arrivals into PHX, 80.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 110,116 arrivals that ran late, 57.2% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of PHX
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- DEN 79% on time · 27,770 flights
- LAX 83.2% on time · 21,885 flights
- SEA 82.8% on time · 21,737 flights
- LAS 78.1% on time · 20,030 flights
- ORD 80.2% on time · 17,424 flights
- SLC 84.6% on time · 17,312 flights
- SAN 76.4% on time · 17,172 flights
- DFW 80.2% on time · 15,526 flights
- SFO 70.8% on time · 14,134 flights
- SNA 82.1% on time · 13,229 flights
PHX in one number
Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX)
Rank 6 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about PHX
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Phoenix Sky Harbor?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 92.7% of the time across 57,859 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 68.9%.
- Is the early flight out of PHX really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from PHX left on time 92.7% of the time across 57,859 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.9% across 58,657. That is a gap of 23.8 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of PHX?
- June: 72.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 46,603 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 83.1%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at PHX?
- Envoy Air — 87% of its 25,593 departures from PHX left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 67.7% over 3,140 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
- How often are flights cancelled at PHX?
- 0.7% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.