Route profile
CLE→MCO
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Cleveland to Orlando, 895 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 31% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,545 flights. How this is calculated
CLE → MCO arrives on time 77.5% of the time; the return trip, MCO → CLE, arrives on time 77.6% of the time.
CLE → MCO spends 27.0 minutes on the ground on an 895-mile trip: 15.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at CLE and 11.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at MCO.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 92% of 5,368 comparable routes.
79.2% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 78.7% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where CLE to MCO differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
CLE to MCO struggles most at 6 PM: 56.2% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 11.7 points behind the 67.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 12.4 points.
Saturday is the day CLE to MCO slips furthest against routes of similar length, 74.7% on time where they average 78.1%, 3.4 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.4 points.
May is kinder to CLE to MCO than to routes of similar length: 82.7% on time against 74.3%, 8.4 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.
In January, CLE to MCO runs 7.3 points below routes of similar length, 71.2% on time to 78.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 7.9 points.
United Airlines does better on CLE to MCO than on its routes of similar length: 88.9% on time here, 80.6% there, 8.3 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 9 points.
CLE to MCO against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 56.2% | routes of similar length | 67.9% | −11.7 pts | 233 here, 180,554 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 74.7% | routes of similar length | 78.1% | −3.4 pts | 1,088 here, 373,520 there |
| Month: May | 82.7% | routes of similar length | 74.3% | +8.4 pts | 531 here, 237,181 there |
| Month: January | 71.2% | routes of similar length | 78.5% | −7.3 pts | 538 here, 212,502 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 88.9% | routes of similar length | 80.6% | +8.3 pts | 1,773 here, 466,516 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 895 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why CLE → MCO flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
CLE → MCO cancelled 104 of 6,545 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 63. The reason filed most often was the airline, 58.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 107 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 104 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
61 cancellations, 58.7% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
40 cancellations, 38.5% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
3 cancellations, 2.9% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
104 coded cancellations were recorded on CLE → MCO; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
55 min late
against a median of 9 min early
CLE → MCO has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 9 min early, but the worst tenth are 64 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 6,545 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MCO after arriving from CLE.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 34% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.0% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.59% of the time and diverts 0.26% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,424 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 55 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,545 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
CLE → MCO flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.8% of the time, against 57.5% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 30.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 87.5% on time from 405 flights
- 6 AM: 84.3% on time from 259 flights
- 7 AM: 90.8% on time from 546 flights
- 8 AM: 87.1% on time from 949 flights
- 9 AM: 85.7% on time from 467 flights
- 10 AM: 82.3% on time from 323 flights
- 11 AM: 78.0% on time from 423 flights
- 12 PM: 76.7% on time from 378 flights
- 1 PM: 70.2% on time from 271 flights
- 2 PM: 75.8% on time from 339 flights
- 3 PM: 72.7% on time from 465 flights
- 4 PM: 71.9% on time from 327 flights
- 5 PM: 65.5% on time from 291 flights
- 6 PM: 56.2% on time from 242 flights
- 7 PM: 59.9% on time from 215 flights
- 8 PM: too few flights to score
- 9 PM: 65.6% on time from 426 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why CLE → MCO runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for CLE → MCO. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on CLE → MCO, at 50.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 87.8% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 57.5%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Airlines | 3,534 | 71.3% | 2.09% | -5 min | 12.2% |
| United Airlines | 1,799 | 88.9% | 1.17% | -12 min | 3.9% |
| Southwest Airlines | 611 | 78.2% | 0.16% | -7 min | 7.8% |
| Spirit Airlines | 601 | 79.2% | 1.33% | -8 min | 9.0% |
Frontier Airlines flew 54.0% of the 6,545 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.09% of its flights here against 0.16% for Southwest Airlines.
United Airlines arrived on time 17.6 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 71.2%
- Feb: 82.6%
- Mar: 75.5%
- Apr: 82.1%
- May: 82.7%
- Jun: 76.6%
- Jul: 71.0%
- Aug: 71.0%
- Sep: 80.3%
- Oct: 85.2%
- Nov: 81.1%
- Dec: 73.9%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 14.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 59.8% from 188 flights
- August 2023: 69.8% from 179 flights
- September 2023: 75.6% from 175 flights
- October 2023: 84.4% from 216 flights
- November 2023: 81.3% from 224 flights
- December 2023: 74.0% from 220 flights
- January 2024: 70.8% from 226 flights
- February 2024: 83.6% from 191 flights
- March 2024: 67.5% from 216 flights
- April 2024: 75.4% from 174 flights
- May 2024: 78.3% from 171 flights
- June 2024: 79.7% from 176 flights
- July 2024: 77.6% from 179 flights
- August 2024: 73.0% from 153 flights
- September 2024: 80.6% from 136 flights
- October 2024: 88.5% from 141 flights
- November 2024: 85.8% from 120 flights
- December 2024: 78.1% from 160 flights
- January 2025: 75.9% from 171 flights
- February 2025: 78.2% from 161 flights
- March 2025: 82.2% from 216 flights
- April 2025: 85.2% from 182 flights
- May 2025: 78.2% from 158 flights
- June 2025: 69.2% from 148 flights
- July 2025: 68.9% from 149 flights
- August 2025: 70.4% from 139 flights
- September 2025: too few flights to score (110)
- October 2025: 83.5% from 158 flights
- November 2025: 77.0% from 148 flights
- December 2025: 69.8% from 173 flights
- January 2026: 66.7% from 158 flights
- February 2026: 85.5% from 174 flights
- March 2026: 76.7% from 235 flights
- April 2026: 85.0% from 207 flights
- May 2026: 89.5% from 210 flights
- June 2026: 79.4% from 208 flights
- July 2026: 77.1% from 195 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 79.2% against 78.7% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,545 CLE → MCO flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed