Flights Philadelphia → Los Angeles
PHL → LAX
How long is the flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles?
The flight from Philadelphia (PHL) to Los Angeles (LAX) takes 5h 35m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from Philadelphia to Los Angeles has an on-time performance rate of 84%, with an average delay of 8.6 minutes per flight. Over the past year, this route has seen a total of 492 flights operated by various Airbus aircraft models including the A321, A320, and A319, serving one of the busiest airports in the United States, which opened in 1926 and currently handles nearly 76.6 million passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Philadelphia (PHL) → Los Angeles (LAX) route is operated by American Airlines. Across 1473 flights monitored in recent months, 78% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 18 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.63%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 26.3/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Los Angeles the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Philadelphia the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Los Angeles: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Philadelphia (PHL) to Los Angeles (LAX) heads west for about 3,856 km, a flight time of roughly 5h 35m.
Departures from Philadelphia on this leg cluster in the morning window: about 39% of PHL-LAX flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Philadelphia the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Los Angeles it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,473 tracked PHL-LAX flights, 78% left on time with an average delay of 18 min and a 1.6% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
Airlines operating PHL-LAX
Airports
Frequently asked questions about PHL-LAX
The flight from Philadelphia (PHL) to Los Angeles (LAX) takes 5h 35m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Philadelphia (PHL) -> Los Angeles (LAX) route, on-time performance is 78% with an average delay of 18 minutes, based on 1473 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Philadelphia-Los Angeles is 1.63% across 1473 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: American Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Los Angeles, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
