Route profile
IAH→FLL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Houston to Fort Lauderdale, 966 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 33% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,128 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
IAH → FLL arrives on time 76.7% of the time; the return trip, FLL → IAH, arrives on time 76.6% of the time.
IAH → FLL spends 26.6 minutes on the ground on a 966-mile trip: 18.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at IAH and 7.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at FLL.
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 95% of 5,368 comparable routes.
79.1% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 79.4% 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 IAH to FLL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
IAH to FLL struggles most at 3 PM: 54.2% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 16.3 points behind the 70.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 18.5 points.
IAH to FLL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 PM: 72.5% arrive on time, 4.6 points ahead of the 67.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 3.9 points.
IAH to FLL holds up on Tuesdays better than routes of similar length do: 83.8% on time to their 80.9%, a 2.9 points lead.
In March, IAH to FLL runs 4.3 points below routes of similar length, 71.9% on time to 76.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 6 points.
February is kinder to IAH to FLL than to routes of similar length: 84.9% on time against 81.0%, 3.9 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 3.5 points.
IAH to FLL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 54.2% | routes of similar length | 70.5% | −16.3 pts | 142 here, 184,511 there |
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 72.5% | routes of similar length | 67.9% | +4.6 pts | 1,273 here, 191,784 there |
| Weekday: Tuesday | 83.8% | routes of similar length | 80.9% | +2.9 pts | 1,034 here, 408,865 there |
| Month: March | 71.9% | routes of similar length | 76.2% | −4.3 pts | 776 here, 264,047 there |
| Month: February | 84.9% | routes of similar length | 81.0% | +3.9 pts | 650 here, 222,939 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 966 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 IAH → FLL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
IAH → FLL cancelled 111 of 8,128 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 73. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 58.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 125 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 111 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.
65 cancellations, 58.6% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
28 cancellations, 25.2% 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, 16.2% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
111 coded cancellations were recorded on IAH → FLL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
56 min late
against a median of 7 min early
IAH → FLL has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 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 8,128 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at FLL after arriving from IAH.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 16% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.2% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.7% | 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 1.37% of the time and diverts 0.22% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,999 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 56 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,128 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
IAH → FLL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 86.1% of the time, against 66.9% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 19.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 87.7% on time from 873 flights
- 6 AM: 82.4% on time from 171 flights
- 7 AM: 85.4% on time from 739 flights
- 8 AM: 85.8% on time from 588 flights
- 9 AM: 79.0% on time from 314 flights
- 10 AM: 73.4% on time from 768 flights
- 11 AM: 81.1% on time from 149 flights
- 12 PM: 81.8% on time from 624 flights
- 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 75.0% on time from 695 flights
- 3 PM: 54.2% on time from 147 flights
- 4 PM: 68.6% on time from 670 flights
- 5 PM: 68.8% on time from 361 flights
- 6 PM: 72.5% on time from 1,284 flights
- 7 PM: 65.8% on time from 448 flights
- 8 PM: 73.0% on time from 202 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why IAH → FLL runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s 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 IAH → FLL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on IAH → FLL, at 33.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 86.1% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 66.9%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 4,790 | 80.0% | 1.06% | -8 min | 8.0% |
| Spirit Airlines | 3,136 | 73.3% | 1.66% | -6 min | 11.1% |
United Airlines flew 60.4% of the 7,926 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 6.7 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 12.8 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.4%
- Feb: 84.9%
- Mar: 71.9%
- Apr: 79.9%
- May: 71.1%
- Jun: 68.4%
- Jul: 64.2%
- Aug: 72.0%
- Sep: 82.6%
- Oct: 85.1%
- Nov: 83.8%
- Dec: 78.1%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 20.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 69.9% from 177 flights
- August 2023: 70.2% from 180 flights
- September 2023: 76.3% from 171 flights
- October 2023: 79.9% from 190 flights
- November 2023: 75.7% from 210 flights
- December 2023: 74.4% from 234 flights
- January 2024: 71.1% from 244 flights
- February 2024: 83.9% from 212 flights
- March 2024: 70.4% from 254 flights
- April 2024: 76.6% from 199 flights
- May 2024: 60.6% from 213 flights
- June 2024: 67.0% from 206 flights
- July 2024: 53.8% from 211 flights
- August 2024: 67.4% from 201 flights
- September 2024: 81.2% from 193 flights
- October 2024: 88.0% from 226 flights
- November 2024: 90.0% from 209 flights
- December 2024: 80.6% from 245 flights
- January 2025: 77.8% from 239 flights
- February 2025: 85.6% from 195 flights
- March 2025: 80.7% from 247 flights
- April 2025: 82.7% from 225 flights
- May 2025: 77.5% from 222 flights
- June 2025: 69.9% from 210 flights
- July 2025: 69.6% from 194 flights
- August 2025: 78.1% from 194 flights
- September 2025: 89.3% from 197 flights
- October 2025: 86.4% from 265 flights
- November 2025: 85.3% from 265 flights
- December 2025: 79.2% from 283 flights
- January 2026: 88.3% from 271 flights
- February 2026: 85.3% from 248 flights
- March 2026: 65.7% from 293 flights
- April 2026: 79.9% from 262 flights
- May 2026: 75.9% from 158 flights
- June 2026: 68.2% from 130 flights
- July 2026: 64.4% from 255 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 79.1% against 79.4% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,128 IAH → FLL 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