SAN to PHX flight delays
San Diego, CA (SAN) Phoenix, AZ (PHX) · 304 miles
5,920 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
75.77%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.57%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
67 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
17 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. American Airlines arrived on time 13.5 points more often than SkyWest 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 season swings this route hard. In February it ran 18.4 points more punctual than in November — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
This is one of the heavily flown routes in the record — 5,920 flights in the period. Frequency is itself a form of insurance: when a flight goes wrong there is another one within hours, which is not true of the thin routes elsewhere on this site.
Flights from San Diego to Phoenix run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, American Airlines arrived on time most often on SAN to PHX. SkyWest Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in February and worst in November.
Every airline on SAN to PHX
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 3,184 | 74.43% | 1.54% | 50 min | D |
| American Airlines | 1,669 | 81.26% | 0.72% | 118 min | B |
| SkyWest Airlines | 445 | 67.77% | 5.17% | 54 min | F |
| Frontier Airlines | 405 | 70.93% | 1.23% | 74 min | D |
| Alaska Airlines | 217 | 77.93% | 1.84% | 46 min | C |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
PHX to SAN Phoenix back to San Diego 73.15% on time DOther routes from San Diego
Common questions
Are flights from San Diego to Phoenix usually delayed?
75.77% of flights on the SAN to PHX 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 San Diego to Phoenix?
American Airlines, at 81.26% on time across 1,669 flights. The least punctual on the route was SkyWest Airlines at 67.77%.
How often are SAN to PHX flights cancelled?
1.57% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 16 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly San Diego to Phoenix?
February, when 84.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was November at 65.7%.
When SAN to PHX flights are late, how late are they?
About 67 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 SAN to PHX 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 →