PHX to DSM flight delays
Phoenix, AZ (PHX) Des Moines, IA (DSM) · 1,149 miles
1,067 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
77.5%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.41%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
50 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
12 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 8.4 points more often than Southwest Airlines over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The Phoenix to Des Moines route sits close to the middle of the record — neither notably punctual nor notably late.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, SkyWest Airlines arrived on time most often on PHX to DSM. Southwest Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in April and worst in May.
Every airline on PHX to DSM
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 494 | 77.27% | 1.82% | 55 min | C |
| SkyWest Airlines | 352 | 80.35% | 1.42% | 48 min | C |
| Southwest Airlines | 166 | 71.95% | 0.6% | 42 min | D |
| Envoy Air | 48 | 79.17% | 0% | 46 min | — |
| Frontier Airlines | 7 | 71.43% | 0% | 33 min | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
DSM to PHX Des Moines back to Phoenix 80.59% on time COther routes from Phoenix
Common questions
Are flights from Phoenix to Des Moines usually delayed?
77.5% of flights on the PHX to DSM route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Phoenix to Des Moines?
SkyWest Airlines, at 80.35% on time across 352 flights. The least punctual on the route was Southwest Airlines at 71.95%.
How often are PHX to DSM flights cancelled?
1.41% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 14 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Phoenix to Des Moines?
April, when 88.5% of flights arrived on time. The worst was May at 71.3%.
When PHX to DSM flights are late, how late are they?
About 50 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on PHX to DSM during January 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →