Route profile
FLL→BNA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Nashville, 793 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 30% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,452 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
FLL → BNA arrives on time 73.8% of the time; the return trip, BNA → FLL, arrives on time 76.2% of the time, a 2.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
FLL → BNA spends 23.9 minutes on the ground on a 793-mile trip: 16.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at FLL and 7.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at BNA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Which day you fly matters unusually much here, a wider weekday spread than 96% of 4,467 comparable routes.
81.6% on time on a typical Wednesday, against 65.5% on a Sunday.
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 4,467 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where FLL to BNA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
FLL to BNA struggles most at 3 PM: 56.7% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 15.4 points behind the 72.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16 points.
FLL to BNA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 AM: 91.7% arrive on time, 6.8 points ahead of the 84.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.4 points.
Sunday is the day FLL to BNA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 65.5% on time where they average 74.8%, 9.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
In March, FLL to BNA runs 9.4 points below routes of similar length, 68.8% on time to 78.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.1 points.
Spirit Airlines’ flights on FLL to BNA arrive on time 71.0% of the time, 3.4 points below the 74.4% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 4.3 points.
FLL to BNA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 56.7% | routes of similar length | 72.1% | −15.4 pts | 240 here, 126,890 there |
| Hour: 9 AM departures | 91.7% | routes of similar length | 84.9% | +6.8 pts | 217 here, 120,238 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 65.5% | routes of similar length | 74.8% | −9.3 pts | 994 here, 323,363 there |
| Month: March | 68.8% | routes of similar length | 78.2% | −9.4 pts | 629 here, 180,537 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 71.0% | routes of similar length | 74.4% | −3.4 pts | 1,767 here, 79,534 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 793 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 FLL → BNA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
FLL → BNA cancelled 91 of 6,452 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 71. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 50.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 140 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 91 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
46 cancellations, 50.5% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
27 cancellations, 29.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
18 cancellations, 19.8% 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.
91 coded cancellations were recorded on FLL → BNA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
53 min late
against a median of 4 min early
Percentiles over 6,452 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BNA after arriving from FLL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 43% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.6% | Low 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 1.41% 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 6,344 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 53 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,452 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
FLL → BNA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.6% of the time, against 59.9% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 31.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 95.6% on time from 662 flights
- 7 AM: 89.1% on time from 543 flights
- 8 AM: 87.0% on time from 266 flights
- 9 AM: 91.7% on time from 220 flights
- 10 AM: 84.3% on time from 548 flights
- 11 AM: 84.9% on time from 293 flights
- 12 PM: 66.1% on time from 293 flights
- 1 PM: 71.3% on time from 269 flights
- 2 PM: 67.6% on time from 465 flights
- 3 PM: 56.7% on time from 248 flights
- 4 PM: 58.8% on time from 246 flights
- 5 PM: 65.6% on time from 181 flights
- 6 PM: 65.0% on time from 613 flights
- 7 PM: 63.5% on time from 555 flights
- 8 PM: 58.6% on time from 437 flights
- 9 PM: 64.3% on time from 226 flights
- 10 PM: 58.4% on time from 246 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why FLL → BNA 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
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for FLL → BNA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on FLL → BNA, at 41.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.6% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 59.9%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 3,979 | 75.1% | 0.78% | -3 min | 7.3% |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,812 | 71.0% | 2.37% | -4 min | 11.8% |
| JetBlue | 408 | 73.0% | 3.68% | -10 min | 13.2% |
| Allegiant Air | 253 | 75.7% | 0.79% | -3 min | 8.8% |
Southwest Airlines flew 61.7% of the 6,452 flights listed. JetBlue cancelled 3.68% of its flights here against 0.78% for Southwest Airlines.
Allegiant Air arrived on time 4.7 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 16.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 77.4%
- Feb: 80.6%
- Mar: 68.8%
- Apr: 77.2%
- May: 70.5%
- Jun: 66.5%
- Jul: 63.4%
- Aug: 75.1%
- Sep: 81.0%
- Oct: 79.9%
- Nov: 79.3%
- Dec: 71.1%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 17.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 55.4% from 163 flights
- August 2023: 70.8% from 159 flights
- September 2023: 74.0% from 170 flights
- October 2023: 77.1% from 201 flights
- November 2023: 75.0% from 192 flights
- December 2023: 72.9% from 202 flights
- January 2024: 71.3% from 195 flights
- February 2024: 78.5% from 186 flights
- March 2024: 67.4% from 239 flights
- April 2024: 77.4% from 190 flights
- May 2024: 68.3% from 191 flights
- June 2024: 71.7% from 175 flights
- July 2024: 69.8% from 165 flights
- August 2024: 76.0% from 123 flights
- September 2024: too few flights to score (99)
- October 2024: 85.9% from 171 flights
- November 2024: 88.8% from 143 flights
- December 2024: 84.0% from 144 flights
- January 2025: 84.9% from 155 flights
- February 2025: 86.6% from 144 flights
- March 2025: 79.3% from 204 flights
- April 2025: 80.8% from 158 flights
- May 2025: 80.7% from 172 flights
- June 2025: 71.8% from 182 flights
- July 2025: 76.4% from 182 flights
- August 2025: 78.5% from 158 flights
- September 2025: 86.8% from 160 flights
- October 2025: 77.7% from 197 flights
- November 2025: 76.6% from 193 flights
- December 2025: 60.7% from 219 flights
- January 2026: 77.3% from 197 flights
- February 2026: 77.9% from 181 flights
- March 2026: 60.0% from 204 flights
- April 2026: 73.7% from 174 flights
- May 2026: 59.8% from 122 flights
- June 2026: 52.0% from 126 flights
- July 2026: 53.4% from 216 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 69.6% against 81.3% in the 12 months before — declining by 11.7 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,452 FLL → BNA 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