Philadelphia (PHL) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 3,814 km
- 2,370 mi · 2,059 nm
- Flight time
- 5 h 45 min / 5 h 5 min
- Average gate to gate: PHL → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 445 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (264 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 323,923
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +3.1%
- Flights / week
- 39
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 82%
- 395,520 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 1
- AA
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from PHL
- 271°
- Heading from SAN
- 66°
- Halfway point
- 38.20, -97.22
- Great-circle km
- 3,806 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air PHL → SAN
- 5 h 13 min
- In the air SAN → PHL
- 4 h 34 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 3 h behind Philadelphia
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 20 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 31,717 |
| Sep 2025 | 28,254 |
| Oct 2025 | 29,985 |
| Nov 2025 | 25,487 |
| Dec 2025 | 26,551 |
| Jan 2026 | 18,726 |
| Feb 2026 | 20,347 |
| Mar 2026 | 27,435 |
| Apr 2026 | 27,771 |
| May 2026 | 26,560 |
| Jun 2026 | 30,347 |
| Jul 2026 | 30,743 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 184 |
| Sep 2025 | 177 |
| Oct 2025 | 178 |
| Nov 2025 | 167 |
| Dec 2025 | 175 |
| Jan 2026 | 121 |
| Feb 2026 | 138 |
| Mar 2026 | 184 |
| Apr 2026 | 181 |
| May 2026 | 180 |
| Jun 2026 | 179 |
| Jul 2026 | 181 |
Airlines flying PHL–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| AAAmerican Airlines | 39 | 100% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 1,456 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 499 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 81 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 7 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 2 flights
Also carried: 75 tonnes of freight and 36 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 83.7%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 15 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.4%
- Flights counted
- 2,092
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
Delay minutes by cause: airline 42% · aircraft arriving late 28% · air traffic system 18% · weather 11% · security 1%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $371
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $331
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- American Airlines
- 86% of passengers · $381
- Lowest-fare airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 8% of passengers · $260
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $320 · Q3 2025 $317 · Q4 2025 $326 · Q1 2026 $371).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $379, likely $328–$432
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 90% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 6%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 6 (airline ticket sample, US domestic city pairs; each city here has this one airport). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 3,806 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.