Route profile
FLL→MCO
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando, 177 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 32% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,071 flights. How this is calculated
FLL → MCO arrives on time 74.5% of the time; the return trip, MCO → FLL, arrives on time 75.3% of the time.
FLL → MCO spends 26.5 minutes on the ground on a 177-mile trip: 15.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at FLL and 10.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at MCO.
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 98% of 4,023 comparable routes.
90.6% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 54.1% 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 MCO differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
FLL to MCO struggles most at 6 PM: 51.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 16.5 points behind the 67.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.5 points.
FLL to MCO is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 5 PM: 74.5% arrive on time, 6.3 points ahead of the 68.2% those routes manage at that hour.
Saturday is the day FLL to MCO slips furthest against routes of similar length, 72.0% on time where they average 79.4%, 7.4 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 7.1 points.
In March, FLL to MCO runs 10.3 points below routes of similar length, 67.2% on time to 77.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.7 points.
Spirit Airlines’ flights on FLL to MCO arrive on time 68.7% of the time, 6.8 points below the 75.5% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6.6 points.
FLL to MCO against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 51.1% | routes of similar length | 67.6% | −16.5 pts | 321 here, 22,007 there |
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 74.5% | routes of similar length | 68.2% | +6.3 pts | 271 here, 21,734 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 72.0% | routes of similar length | 79.4% | −7.4 pts | 542 here, 41,123 there |
| Month: March | 67.2% | routes of similar length | 77.5% | −10.3 pts | 341 here, 28,513 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 68.7% | routes of similar length | 75.5% | −6.8 pts | 2,216 here, 7,367 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 177 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
58 min late
against a median of 5 min early
FLL → MCO has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth are 63 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 4,071 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MCO after arriving from FLL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.5% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.4% | 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 1.03% of the time and diverts 0.05% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,027 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 58 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,071 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
FLL → MCO flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.6% of the time, against 54.1% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 36.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 92.2% on time from 664 flights
- 7 AM: 93.1% on time from 555 flights
- 8 AM: 85.5% on time from 485 flights
- 9 AM: 90.3% on time from 149 flights
- 10 AM: 82.2% on time from 136 flights
- 11 AM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 74.5% on time from 277 flights
- 6 PM: 51.1% on time from 325 flights
- 7 PM: 53.2% on time from 295 flights
- 8 PM: 58.3% on time from 294 flights
- 9 PM: 57.8% on time from 293 flights
- 10 PM: 59.0% on time from 267 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why FLL → MCO runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
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 → MCO. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit Airlines | 2,238 | 68.7% | 0.94% | -1 min | 13.0% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,686 | 82.7% | 1.07% | -8 min | 5.9% |
Spirit Airlines flew 57.0% of the 3,924 flights listed.
Southwest Airlines arrived on time 14.0 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Miami to Orlando
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA→MCO Miami to Orlando | 11,752 | 72.0% | 1.34% | -3 min | 48 |
| FLL→MCO this route Fort Lauderdale to Orlando | 4,071 | 74.5% | 1.03% | -5 min | 59 |
FLL → MCO is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 74.5% on time, against 72.0% for MIA → MCO.
Flying to MCO from the Miami area? Compare FLL, MIA for MCO, 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 10.3 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 76.4%
- Feb: 76.3%
- Mar: 67.2%
- Apr: 78.8%
- May: 72.3%
- Jun: 74.5%
- Jul: 64.6%
- Aug: 66.4%
- Sep: 81.4%
- Oct: 86.6%
- Nov: 83.1%
- Dec: 70.3%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 22.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (114)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (118)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (116)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (110)
- November 2023: 65.8% from 120 flights
- December 2023: 59.3% from 124 flights
- January 2024: 61.0% from 123 flights
- February 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- May 2024: 59.2% from 121 flights
- June 2024: too few flights to score (114)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (118)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (97)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (84)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- September 2025: 90.8% from 120 flights
- October 2025: 89.2% from 121 flights
- November 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- December 2025: 75.9% from 146 flights
- January 2026: 78.6% from 155 flights
- February 2026: 78.0% from 142 flights
- March 2026: 56.6% from 135 flights
- April 2026: 69.2% from 121 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (81)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (94)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (95)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.9% against 86.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 8.2 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,071 FLL → 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