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Rankings / Routes / Los Angeles to Phoenix

2025 flights

Los Angeles to Phoenix

Between Los Angeles and Phoenix, 4.3 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 40 thousand flights of about 354 miles and 58 minutes in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 74 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 57 kg on Frontier Airlines to 114 kg on Envoy Air.

The EPA's default factor says a flight like Los Angeles to Phoenix should account for 46 kg of CO2 per passenger. Airline filings say 74 kg, 62% more. At 354 miles a flight spends proportionally more of its fuel on take-off and climb than a long one does, and the default is an average that's built from every length of flight.

No airline here gets down to the default. Frontier is the lowest at 57 kg and the regional jets are the highest, SkyWest at 105 kg, 84% above Frontier. Southwest carries 51% of the passengers at 72 kg and American 31% at 67 kg.

  • 74 kgCO2 per passenger, average
  • 354 milesabout 58 minutes in the air
  • 4.3 millionpassengers in 2025
  • 73%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

CO2 per passenger by airline, Los Angeles to PhoenixBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Los Angeles and Phoenix in 2025.0255075100Frontier Airlines57 kgAmerican Airlines67 kgSouthwest Airlines72 kgUnited Airlines88 kgSkyWest Airlines105 kgEnvoy Air114 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, Los Angeles to PhoenixBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Los Angeles and Phoenix in 2025.050100Frontier Airlines57 kgAmerican Airlines67 kgSouthwest Airlines72 kgUnited Airlines88 kgSkyWest Airlines105 kgEnvoy Air114 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.
Los Angeles to Phoenix by airline, 2025
AirlineShare of passengersFlights (thousands)Main aircraftSeats per flightSeats filledkg CO2 per passenger
Southwest Airlines51%19.6Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737 MAX 815372%72
American Airlines31%10.1Airbus A321neo, Boeing 737-80017775%67
SkyWest Airlines9%6.6Embraer 1757382%105
Frontier Airlines5%1.6Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo19174%57
United Airlines3%1.1Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737-80017057%88
Envoy Air1%0.8Embraer 1757678%114

What explains the differences

It's number 10 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 85 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.21 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 354 miles in this set comes out at about 72 kg, so this one is close to that.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: PHX to LAX (37%), PHX to SNA (26%), PHX to ONT (16%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 100% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 829 gallons per flight and 142 passengers on each, and Envoy Air 691 gallons and 59 passengers. The gap comes from how many passengers share each flight, not from fuel burned per flight. Frontier Airlines flew 74% full here against 78% for Envoy Air, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Embraer 175.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 46 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 62% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 4.4 million passengers on 42 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 4.3 million, down 2%, on 40 thousand flights, down 5%. The average flight had 129 seats then and 146 now, and 81% of them were filled against 73%.

CO2 per passenger was 75 kg in 2019 and 74 kg in 2025, down 1.3%. Fuel burned per flight was up 1.4% (803 gallons to 814) and passengers per flight were up 2.8% (105 to 108). The distance flown was about the same (355 miles then, 354 now).

Southwest Airlines led in both years, with 50% of passengers in 2019 and 51% in 2025. SkyWest Airlines gained the most share, 5% to 9%. Frontier Airlines and United Airlines and Envoy Air didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now together carry 9%. Mesa Airlines and Compass Airlines no longer reach 1% of passengers, having had 13% in 2019.

Airline by airline, American Airlines went from 67 kg to 67 kg per passenger (165 seats per flight to 177, main aircraft Airbus A321 then and Airbus A321neo now); Southwest Airlines went from 69 kg to 72 kg per passenger (145 seats per flight to 153, main aircraft Boeing 737-700 in both years).

Los Angeles to Phoenix, 2019 and 2025
Measure20192025
Passengers (thousands)4,3834,296
Flights (thousands)41.939.9
Seats filled81%73%
Gallons of fuel per flight803814
kg CO2 per passenger7574
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Los Angeles to PhoenixBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Los Angeles to Phoenix for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.0255075100Southwest Airlines 201969 kgSouthwest Airlines 202572 kgAmerican Airlines 201967 kgAmerican Airlines 202567 kgSkyWest Airlines 2019105 kgSkyWest Airlines 2025105 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Los Angeles to PhoenixBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Los Angeles to Phoenix for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.050100Southwest Airlines 201969 kgSouthwest Airlines 202572 kgAmerican Airlines 201967 kgAmerican Airlines 202567 kgSkyWest Airlines 2019105 kgSkyWest Airlines 2025105 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

Los Angeles to Phoenix and back: time in the air

The time in the air is almost the same each way: 58 minutes on average from Los Angeles to Phoenix and 58 minutes back. A difference of 1 minute is within what routing and congestion alone produce.

Time in the air by direction, 2025
DirectionAverage minutes in the airFlights
Phoenix to Los Angeles58.319,995
Los Angeles to Phoenix57.819,941

Fly or drive

Driving is about 414 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 123 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 67% more than the 74 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 2 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (62 kg each, and 31 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 163 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person by way of travel, Los Angeles to PhoenixBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Los Angeles and Phoenix.050100Flight, average74 kgCar, driver alone123 kgCar, 2 people62 kgCar, 4 people31 kg
CO2 per person by way of travel, Los Angeles to PhoenixBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Los Angeles and Phoenix.050100Flight, average74 kgCar, driver alone123 kgCar, 2 people62 kgCar, 4 people31 kg
CO2 per person, Los Angeles to Phoenix. Driving figures divide one car's emissions between the people in it. See flying vs driving for other trip lengths.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

What to take from it

The route hasn't moved much since 2019: 4.3 million passengers against 4.4 million, and 74 kg per passenger against 75 kg. The flight takes 58 minutes in the air in both directions, so the wind doesn't play a part here.

Driving 414 road miles alone is 123 kg, 67% more than the flight. A second person brings it to 62 kg each, 17% below, and a full car to 31 kg each.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Los Angeles to San Francisco75 kg CO2 per passenger over 337 milesLos Angeles to Las Vegas53 kg CO2 per passenger over 227 milesNew York to Los Angeles406 kg CO2 per passenger over 2,465 milesLos Angeles to Dallas-Fort Worth171 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,222 milesNew York to Nashville150 kg CO2 per passenger over 761 milesChicago to Washington, DC121 kg CO2 per passenger over 609 milesNew York to Detroit106 kg CO2 per passenger over 499 milesNew York to Charlotte117 kg CO2 per passenger over 541 miles

Airports on this route: Los Angeles International Airport, John Wayne Airport, Ontario International Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.