Route profile
FLL→TPA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, 197 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 27% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,977 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
FLL → TPA arrives on time 75.2% of the time; the return trip, TPA → FLL, arrives on time 78.3% of the time, a 3.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
FLL → TPA spends 21.3 minutes on the ground on a 197-mile trip: 15.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at FLL and 5.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at TPA.
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 98% of 4,467 comparable routes.
83.4% on time on a typical Wednesday, against 66.1% 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 TPA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
FLL to TPA struggles most at 4 PM: 57.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 14.1 points behind the 71.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 13.7 points.
FLL to TPA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 AM: 94.6% arrive on time, 6.8 points ahead of the 87.8% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
Sunday is the day FLL to TPA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 66.1% on time where they average 74.4%, 8.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 8.7 points.
In March, FLL to TPA runs 10.9 points below routes of similar length, 66.8% on time to 77.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 11.1 points.
Spirit Airlines’ flights on FLL to TPA arrive on time 72.7% of the time, 7.6 points below the 80.3% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 2.6 points.
FLL to TPA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 4 PM departures | 57.0% | routes of similar length | 71.1% | −14.1 pts | 149 here, 30,537 there |
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 94.6% | routes of similar length | 87.8% | +6.8 pts | 332 here, 35,604 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 66.1% | routes of similar length | 74.4% | −8.3 pts | 549 here, 76,160 there |
| Month: March | 66.8% | routes of similar length | 77.7% | −10.9 pts | 367 here, 44,344 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 72.7% | routes of similar length | 80.3% | −7.6 pts | 2,213 here, 19,367 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 197 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 → TPA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
FLL → TPA cancelled 73 of 3,977 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 54. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 68.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 80 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 73 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.
50 cancellations, 68.5% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
19 cancellations, 26.0% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
4 cancellations, 5.5% 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.
73 coded cancellations were recorded on FLL → TPA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
57 min late
against a median of 5 min early
FLL → TPA has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth are 62 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 3,977 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at TPA after arriving from FLL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 16% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.1% | 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 1.84% of the time and diverts 0.10% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,900 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 57 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,977 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
FLL → TPA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.6% of the time, against 59.2% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 31.4 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.9% on time from 357 flights
- 7 AM: 94.6% on time from 336 flights
- 8 AM: 85.2% on time from 548 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 87.2% on time from 295 flights
- 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 80.5% on time from 125 flights
- 1 PM to 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 65.6% on time from 124 flights
- 4 PM: 57.0% on time from 153 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 61.5% on time from 429 flights
- 7 PM: 58.6% on time from 474 flights
- 8 PM: 57.0% on time from 312 flights
- 9 PM: too few flights to score
- 10 PM: 65.4% on time from 217 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why FLL → TPA 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 → TPA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
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 | 2,266 | 72.7% | 2.25% | -3 min | 10.6% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,417 | 81.5% | 0.99% | -8 min | 5.4% |
| JetBlue | 294 | 64.0% | 2.72% | 3 min | 18.5% |
Spirit Airlines flew 57.0% of the 3,977 flights listed. JetBlue cancelled 2.72% of its flights here against 0.99% for Southwest Airlines.
Southwest Airlines arrived on time 17.5 percentage points more often than JetBlue 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 17.3 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 78.3%
- Feb: 74.9%
- Mar: 66.8%
- Apr: 78.9%
- May: 80.1%
- Jun: 74.7%
- Jul: 68.8%
- Aug: 71.3%
- Sep: 79.1%
- Oct: 80.7%
- Nov: 79.6%
- Dec: 72.3%
March is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 13.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (119)
- August 2023: 64.5% from 120 flights
- September 2023: too few flights to score (119)
- October 2023: 78.5% from 136 flights
- November 2023: too few flights to score (118)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (116)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (108)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (114)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (91)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (91)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (83)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (83)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (88)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (104)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (113)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (118)
- December 2025: 70.3% from 151 flights
- January 2026: 77.1% from 156 flights
- February 2026: 66.9% from 140 flights
- March 2026: 56.8% from 166 flights
- April 2026: 69.9% from 137 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (65)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (73)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (93)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.2% against 81.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 7.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,977 FLL → TPA 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