Metro area · Miami
Which Miami airport should you fly from?
MIA and FLL compared on 619,160 departures, July 2023 – July 2026: how often flights arrive on time, how often they are cancelled, how long they taxi, and how all of it changes with the time of day. Add a destination to compare the routes each airport flies there.
Enter an airport code. You get the route from each of MIA, FLL to it, side by side. The suggestions are places at least two of these airports fly to.
What stands out in the Miami area
Each line is worked out from the figures below. A lead is claimed only where it is larger than chance.
- On-time arrivalMIA had the best on-time arrival rate, 73.2%, ahead of FLL at 72.6%. Best to worst is 0.6 points, a difference larger than chance but under a point.
- CancellationsFLL cancelled 1.70% of its flights, 1.1 times the rate at MIA (1.49%).
- Taxi timeTaxi-out averages 21.3 min at MIA and 17.8 min at FLL, 3.5 minutes more between pushback and wheels-up. Coming in, taxi time runs from 7.4 min at FLL to 9.8 min at MIA.
- Time of dayMIA is clearly ahead in 4 of 6 departure windows (12–3 PM, 3–6 PM, 6–9 PM, and 9 PM–5 AM); in the other 2 no airport leads clearly. The gap is widest for departures at 9 PM–5 AM (MIA 69.2% against FLL 59.0%) and narrowest at 5–9 AM (0.1 points).
- Hour by hourThe biggest swing through the day is at FLL: 5 AM–6 AM reached 91.7% on time (4,075 flights) and 9 PM–10 PM fell to 58.0% (9,988), 33.7 points apart.
- AirlinesAmerican Airlines flies 56% of departures from MIA, more than any other carrier at any airport here. The largest carrier at each: American Airlines at MIA (56%) and Spirit Airlines at FLL (24%). Carriers with 500 or more departures at only one of them: Envoy Air and Republic Airways at MIA and Allegiant Air at FLL.
- Destinations71 destinations outside the metro area get 750 or more flights from these airports; 50 of them from at least two and 50 from every airport. MIA alone serves 11 destinations (6% of its departures), including Key West (EYW), Tallahassee (TLH), and Savannah (SAV).
- Same destinationsOn the 50 destinations every airport serves, on-time arrival runs from 72.8% at FLL to 72.8% at MIA: 0.0 points, narrower than the 0.6 points over all their flights, so part of the overall gap comes from where each airport flies; no airport leads clearly.
MIA and FLL side by side
Every flight that left each airport, July 2023 – July 2026. The same measures as the compare tool, so a figure here is the figure there.
MIA is clearly ahead on 4 of 4 rates.
A check mark and green mark the best figure in a row (higher for on-time rates, lower for delays and cancellations) when it is clearly better than the other’s: a two-proportion test on each airport’s flight count, at about 95% confidence. Otherwise the row says “too close to call”. Average and median delay carry no sample-error estimate here, so they are marked by the printed figure alone.
Share of the metro is each airport’s part of the 619,160 departures at these 2 airports. Taxi-out is pushback to wheels-up on departure and taxi-in is touchdown to gate on arrival, averaged over all flights. The score is the FlyerIntel Reliability Score, 0 to 100.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Departing flights only.
By departure time
On-time arrival for flights leaving in each part of the day, at each airport.
| Leaving | MIA | FLL | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM · too close to call | 88.7%67,819 flights | 88.8%70,552 flights | 0.1 pts |
| 9 AM–12 PM · too close to call | 80.9%38,301 flights | 80.8%39,707 flights | 0.1 pts |
| 12–3 PM | 72.6% (best)49,411 flights | 69.7%43,972 flights | 2.9 pts |
| 3–6 PM | 65.2% (best)63,031 flights | 62.9%47,760 flights | 2.3 pts |
| 6–9 PM | 64.2% (best)70,158 flights | 61.2%62,770 flights | 3.0 pts |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 69.2% (best)51,749 flights | 59.0%13,930 flights | 10.2 pts |
A window needs at least 120 flights at an airport to be scored. The check mark uses the same test as the table above. Gap is best minus worst among the scored airports.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Windows are the scheduled local departure time at each airport.
Best and worst hour
On-time arrival by scheduled departure hour, for the hours with enough flights to score.
| Airport | Best hour | Worst hour | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIA19 hours scored | 5 AM–6 AM89.7% · 3,951 flights | 6 PM–7 PM63.2% · 19,684 flights | 26.5 pts |
| FLL19 hours scored | 5 AM–6 AM91.7% · 4,075 flights | 9 PM–10 PM58.0% · 9,988 flights | 33.7 pts |
MIA
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 89.7% on time from 3,951 flights
- 6 AM: 89.6% on time from 15,120 flights
- 7 AM: 89.1% on time from 19,818 flights
- 8 AM: 87.8% on time from 28,930 flights
- 9 AM: 84.7% on time from 14,797 flights
- 10 AM: 81.0% on time from 11,247 flights
- 11 AM: 76.4% on time from 12,257 flights
- 12 PM: 75.0% on time from 14,602 flights
- 1 PM: 73.5% on time from 16,377 flights
- 2 PM: 69.9% on time from 18,432 flights
- 3 PM: 67.3% on time from 21,101 flights
- 4 PM: 65.3% on time from 18,773 flights
- 5 PM: 63.3% on time from 23,157 flights
- 6 PM: 63.2% on time from 19,684 flights
- 7 PM: 64.4% on time from 30,212 flights
- 8 PM: 64.9% on time from 20,262 flights
- 9 PM: 69.1% on time from 34,965 flights
- 10 PM: 69.4% on time from 15,882 flights
- 11 PM: 69.5% on time from 836 flights
FLL
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 91.7% on time from 4,075 flights
- 6 AM: 91.3% on time from 21,980 flights
- 7 AM: 88.2% on time from 27,015 flights
- 8 AM: 85.9% on time from 17,482 flights
- 9 AM: 83.8% on time from 12,389 flights
- 10 AM: 81.5% on time from 11,039 flights
- 11 AM: 78.2% on time from 16,279 flights
- 12 PM: 71.8% on time from 15,201 flights
- 1 PM: 69.9% on time from 14,193 flights
- 2 PM: 67.3% on time from 14,578 flights
- 3 PM: 65.4% on time from 15,897 flights
- 4 PM: 61.3% on time from 15,389 flights
- 5 PM: 61.8% on time from 16,474 flights
- 6 PM: 60.5% on time from 19,881 flights
- 7 PM: 60.3% on time from 19,259 flights
- 8 PM: 62.6% on time from 23,630 flights
- 9 PM: 58.0% on time from 9,988 flights
- 10 PM: 60.3% on time from 3,551 flights
- 11 PM: 70.8% on time from 391 flights
Each chart has its own scale, so read the numbers in the table, not the bar heights, when comparing airports. The best and worst of 24 hours are the two extremes, so a small airport’s best hour is partly luck; the flight count is beside each. A swing under 3 points, or one the two hours’ flight counts cannot separate from chance, is marked as within noise.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Hours are the scheduled local departure hour. An hour needs at least 120 flights to be scored.
Where each airport is strongest
Where it is clearly better than every other airport here, where it flies, and who flies there.
MIA Miami
Clearly best on on-time arrival, cancellations, severe delays, and departure on-time. Clearly ahead for departures at 12–3 PM, 3–6 PM, 6–9 PM, and 9 PM–5 AM.
Busiest destinations
| To | A day | Share |
|---|---|---|
| ATL Atlanta | 17.9 | 5.9% |
| LGA New York | 15.9 | 5.3% |
| JFK New York | 14.0 | 4.6% |
| DFW Dallas–Fort Worth | 13.2 | 4.4% |
| ORD Chicago | 12.1 | 4.0% |
| EWR Newark | 11.3 | 3.8% |
61 destinations with 750 or more flights carry 98% of its departures. 11 of them are served by no other airport here (6% of departures), the largest Key West (EYW), Tallahassee (TLH), and Savannah (SAV).
Airlines
| Airline | Share | On time |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 56% | 71.0% |
| Envoy Air | 13% | 80.7% |
| Delta Air Lines | 10% | 74.1% |
| United Airlines | 5.9% | 77.0% |
| Southwest Airlines | 5.1% | 73.8% |
American Airlines flies 56% of departures, over the 50% that makes an airport that carrier’s. With 500 or more departures only here: Envoy Air and Republic Airways.
FLL Fort Lauderdale
No rate on which it is clearly better than every other airport here. Not clearly ahead in any departure window.
Busiest destinations
| To | A day | Share |
|---|---|---|
| ATL Atlanta | 20.2 | 8.2% |
| EWR Newark | 13.7 | 5.5% |
| LGA New York | 12.5 | 5.0% |
| JFK New York | 10.6 | 4.3% |
| BWI Baltimore | 9.8 | 4.0% |
| CLT Charlotte | 9.0 | 3.6% |
60 destinations with 750 or more flights carry 97% of its departures. 10 of them are served by no other airport here (6% of departures), the largest White Plains (HPN), Asheville (AVL), and Atlantic City (ACY).
Airlines
| Airline | Share | On time |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit Airlines | 24% | 68.8% |
| JetBlue | 22% | 69.6% |
| Southwest Airlines | 15% | 73.8% |
| Delta Air Lines | 14% | 77.6% |
| United Airlines | 9.3% | 81.9% |
With 500 or more departures only here: Allegiant Air.
Airlines are the operating carrier, so a regional airline flying for a larger one is listed under its own name. Only airlines with at least 500 departures at an airport are listed there.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026
Holding the destination or the airline still
Two ways to take one reason for a gap out of the comparison.
Destinations every airport serves
50 places get 750 or more flights from each of MIA and FLL. Counting only flights to those places (91% of MIA’s and 91% of FLL’s departures):
| Measure | MIA | FLL |
|---|---|---|
| On-time arrival | 72.8% | 72.8% |
| Cancellation rate | 1.51% (best) | 1.71% |
| Severe delay (60+ min) | 10.4% | 10.4% |
| Flights | 311,128 | 253,350 |
The shared places: Atlanta (ATL), Austin (AUS), Hartford (BDL), Nashville (BNA), Boston (BOS), Baltimore (BWI), Charleston (CHS), Cleveland (CLE), Charlotte (CLT), Columbus (CMH), Cincinnati / Covington (CVG), Dallas (DAL), Washington (DCA), Denver (DEN), and 36 more.
The same airline at different airports
Where one airline flies from several of these airports, its own on-time rate at each. The airline is the same, so a gap is not about who flies, though the routes each flies from an airport still differ.
| Airline | MIA | FLL |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 71.0%189,097 flights | 75.8% (best)21,369 flights |
| Spirit Airlines | 72.8% (best)15,365 flights | 68.8%67,556 flights |
| Delta Air Lines | 74.1%34,931 flights | 77.6% (best)38,615 flights |
| JetBlue | 66.2%4,077 flights | 69.6% (best)62,373 flights |
| Southwest Airlines | 73.8%17,378 flights | 73.8%40,987 flights |
| United Airlines | 77.0%20,132 flights | 81.9% (best)25,889 flights |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Same test as above. A dash means the airline has fewer than 500 departures at that airport.
What these figures do not compare
Reasons two airports can differ that have nothing to do with how well either is run.
- Different airlines. American Airlines flies 56% of MIA’s departures; Spirit Airlines flies 24% of FLL’s departures. An airline brings its own schedule, aircraft and habits to an airport, so part of every gap above is a gap between carriers.
- Different destinations. 6% of MIA’s departures and 6% of FLL’s departures go to places no other airport here serves. An on-time arrival is counted at the far end, so weather and congestion at the destination are in the figure.
- Different trip lengths. The average route, weighted by flights, is 1,044 miles from MIA and 1,052 miles from FLL. Short regional hops and long coast-to-coast flights fail in different ways.
- Ground time belongs to the airport. Taxi-out and the share of flights that push back on time measure the airport itself. On-time arrival measures the whole trip.
- History, not a forecast. These are flights from July 2023 – July 2026. A storm cancels hundreds of flights together, so a clear gap is a statement about this sample, not a promise about your trip.
Analysis last recomputed
How the metro areas are chosen and what a lead means: how this works. All figures are from the methodology the airport pages use.
Other metro areas
- New York (LGA, EWR, JFK)
- Chicago (ORD, MDW)
- Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW, DAL)
- Los Angeles (LAX, SNA, BUR, ONT)
- Washington (DCA, BWI, IAD)
- San Francisco (SFO, SJC, OAK)
- Houston (IAH, HOU)