Route profile
FLL→HOU
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Houston, 957 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 45% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 2,770 flights. How this is calculated
FLL → HOU arrives on time 74.3% of the time; the return trip, HOU → FLL, arrives on time 73.8% of the time.
FLL → HOU spends 22.3 minutes on the ground on a 957-mile trip: 16.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at FLL and 6.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at HOU.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 99% of 4,023 comparable routes.
94.0% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 53.7% for 6–9 PM.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where FLL to HOU differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
FLL to HOU struggles most at 7 PM: 51.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 15.5 points behind the 66.8% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16.5 points.
FLL to HOU is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 AM: 94.8% arrive on time, 4.1 points ahead of the 90.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 4 points.
Sunday is the day FLL to HOU slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.0% on time where they average 73.9%, 5.9 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
In January, FLL to HOU runs 11.3 points below routes of similar length, 66.7% on time to 78.0%. Against all other routes the gap is 12.4 points.
FLL to HOU against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 51.3% | routes of similar length | 66.8% | −15.5 pts | 517 here, 197,694 there |
| Hour: 6 AM departures | 94.8% | routes of similar length | 90.7% | +4.1 pts | 534 here, 224,263 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 68.0% | routes of similar length | 73.9% | −5.9 pts | 419 here, 451,909 there |
| Month: January | 66.7% | routes of similar length | 78.0% | −11.3 pts | 228 here, 232,934 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 957 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
47 min late
against a median of 3 min early
Percentiles over 2,770 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at HOU after arriving from FLL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 42% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 7.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.8% | 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 0.90% of the time and diverts 0.51% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 2,731 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 47 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 2,770 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
FLL → HOU flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 94.0% of the time, against 53.7% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 40.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 93.2% on time from 578 flights
- 6 AM: 94.8% on time from 542 flights
- 7 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 71.9% on time from 197 flights
- 11 AM: 84.4% on time from 184 flights
- 12 PM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 59.0% on time from 180 flights
- 6 PM: 60.9% on time from 303 flights
- 7 PM: 51.3% on time from 527 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why FLL → HOU 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 → HOU. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on FLL → HOU, at 55.7%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 94.0% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 53.7%.
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 | 2,770 | 74.3% | 0.90% | -3 min | 7.4% |
Other ways to fly Miami to Houston
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA→IAH Miami to Houston | 10,858 | 73.7% | 1.75% | -5 min | 51 |
| FLL→HOU this route Fort Lauderdale to Houston | 2,770 | 74.3% | 0.90% | -3 min | 64 |
FLL → HOU is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 74.3% on time, against 73.7% for MIA → IAH.
Flying to HOU from the Miami area? Compare FLL, MIA for HOU, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 66.7%
- Feb: 76.7%
- Mar: 73.8%
- Apr: 77.6%
- May: 73.4%
- Jun: 63.6%
- Jul: 68.6%
- Aug: 77.0%
- Sep: 81.4%
- Oct: 78.9%
- Nov: 84.3%
- Dec: 73.5%
June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 20.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 70.8% against 84.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 13.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 2,770 FLL → HOU 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