Route profile
MCO→CLE
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Orlando to Cleveland, 895 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 36% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,546 flights. How this is calculated
MCO → CLE arrives on time 77.6% of the time; the return trip, CLE → MCO, arrives on time 77.5% of the time.
MCO → CLE spends 29.9 minutes on the ground on an 895-mile trip: 19.7 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MCO and 10.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at CLE.
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 97% of 4,023 comparable routes.
90.0% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 54.9% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 MCO to CLE differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
MCO to CLE struggles most at 9 PM: 52.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 13.5 points behind the 66.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16.7 points.
MCO to CLE is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 PM: 76.0% arrive on time, 8.1 points ahead of the 67.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.4 points.
May is kinder to MCO to CLE than to routes of similar length: 84.7% on time against 74.3%, 10.4 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 9.5 points.
In August, MCO to CLE runs 9.5 points below routes of similar length, 65.5% on time to 75.0%. Against all other routes the gap is 11 points.
United Airlines does better on MCO to CLE than on its routes of similar length: 85.6% on time here, 80.6% there, 5 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
MCO to CLE against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 52.8% | routes of similar length | 66.3% | −13.5 pts | 271 here, 82,831 there |
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 76.0% | routes of similar length | 67.9% | +8.1 pts | 445 here, 180,342 there |
| Month: May | 84.7% | routes of similar length | 74.3% | +10.4 pts | 537 here, 237,175 there |
| Month: August | 65.5% | routes of similar length | 75.0% | −9.5 pts | 455 here, 229,278 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 85.6% | routes of similar length | 80.6% | +5.0 pts | 1,772 here, 466,517 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 895 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 MCO → CLE flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
MCO → CLE cancelled 97 of 6,546 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 67. The reason filed most often was the airline, 50.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 134 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 97 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
49 cancellations, 50.5% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
44 cancellations, 45.4% 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, 4.1% 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.
97 coded cancellations were recorded on MCO → CLE; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
53 min late
against a median of 7 min early
MCO → CLE has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 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 6,546 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at CLE after arriving from MCO.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 16% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.1% | 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 1.48% of the time and diverts 0.21% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,435 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 6,546 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
MCO → CLE flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.0% of the time, against 54.9% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 35.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 92.8% on time from 477 flights
- 6 AM: 89.0% on time from 283 flights
- 7 AM: 87.8% on time from 358 flights
- 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 81.1% on time from 260 flights
- 10 AM: 84.1% on time from 394 flights
- 11 AM: 86.3% on time from 987 flights
- 12 PM: 82.0% on time from 463 flights
- 1 PM: 77.1% on time from 274 flights
- 2 PM: 76.0% on time from 382 flights
- 3 PM: 66.3% on time from 298 flights
- 4 PM: 68.4% on time from 268 flights
- 5 PM: 67.3% on time from 437 flights
- 6 PM: 76.0% on time from 458 flights
- 7 PM: 70.1% on time from 384 flights
- 8 PM: 63.8% on time from 161 flights
- 9 PM: 52.8% on time from 278 flights
- 10 PM: 56.9% on time from 281 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why MCO → CLE 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 MCO → CLE. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MCO → CLE, at 47.7%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.0% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 54.9%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Airlines | 3,540 | 74.7% | 1.75% | -6 min | 10.3% |
| United Airlines | 1,798 | 85.6% | 1.33% | -12 min | 5.5% |
| Southwest Airlines | 611 | 74.3% | 0.65% | 0 min | 7.4% |
| Spirit Airlines | 597 | 73.4% | 1.17% | -5 min | 11.2% |
Frontier Airlines flew 54.1% of the 6,546 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 1.75% of its flights here against 0.65% for Southwest Airlines.
United Airlines arrived on time 12.2 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 76.9%
- Feb: 81.1%
- Mar: 74.7%
- Apr: 82.5%
- May: 84.7%
- Jun: 78.2%
- Jul: 65.9%
- Aug: 65.5%
- Sep: 81.0%
- Oct: 82.6%
- Nov: 82.6%
- Dec: 78.7%
August is historically the weakest month and May the strongest, a spread of 19.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 46.1% from 187 flights
- August 2023: 51.7% from 179 flights
- September 2023: 72.7% from 175 flights
- October 2023: 79.9% from 216 flights
- November 2023: 83.4% from 223 flights
- December 2023: 81.7% from 221 flights
- January 2024: 72.6% from 226 flights
- February 2024: 80.6% from 192 flights
- March 2024: 72.8% from 217 flights
- April 2024: 88.2% from 174 flights
- May 2024: 85.4% from 173 flights
- June 2024: 78.7% from 176 flights
- July 2024: 76.4% from 179 flights
- August 2024: 76.5% from 154 flights
- September 2024: 84.4% from 136 flights
- October 2024: 83.8% from 141 flights
- November 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- December 2024: 85.0% from 160 flights
- January 2025: 82.6% from 172 flights
- February 2025: 80.5% from 161 flights
- March 2025: 79.6% from 216 flights
- April 2025: 87.4% from 182 flights
- May 2025: 82.3% from 158 flights
- June 2025: 76.6% from 148 flights
- July 2025: 72.8% from 149 flights
- August 2025: 70.9% from 138 flights
- September 2025: too few flights to score (109)
- October 2025: 85.3% from 157 flights
- November 2025: 82.2% from 147 flights
- December 2025: 68.8% from 173 flights
- January 2026: 76.6% from 159 flights
- February 2026: 82.1% from 174 flights
- March 2026: 71.9% from 235 flights
- April 2026: 73.4% from 207 flights
- May 2026: 86.1% from 210 flights
- June 2026: 79.0% from 208 flights
- July 2026: 69.6% from 195 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.5% against 81.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,546 MCO → CLE 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