Route profile
MCO→DAL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Orlando to Dallas, 973 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 26% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,345 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
MCO → DAL arrives on time 72.3% of the time; the return trip, DAL → MCO, arrives on time 73.0% of the time.
MCO → DAL spends 23.1 minutes on the ground on a 973-mile trip: 17.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MCO and 5.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at DAL.
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.
91.0% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 51.8% 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 DAL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
MCO to DAL struggles most at 9 PM: 51.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 14.1 points behind the 65.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.7 points.
MCO to DAL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 AM: 93.4% arrive on time, 2.7 points ahead of the 90.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 2.6 points.
Saturday is the day MCO to DAL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 67.6% on time where they average 77.7%, 10.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 11.5 points.
In May, MCO to DAL runs 9 points below routes of similar length, 65.6% on time to 74.6%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.7 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on MCO to DAL arrive on time 72.3% of the time, 3.6 points below the 75.9% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 5.2 points.
MCO to DAL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 51.8% | routes of similar length | 65.9% | −14.1 pts | 338 here, 85,491 there |
| Hour: 6 AM departures | 93.4% | routes of similar length | 90.7% | +2.7 pts | 911 here, 225,433 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 67.6% | routes of similar length | 77.7% | −10.1 pts | 1,113 here, 403,721 there |
| Month: May | 65.6% | routes of similar length | 74.6% | −9.0 pts | 680 here, 252,937 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 72.3% | routes of similar length | 75.9% | −3.6 pts | 8,181 here, 748,034 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 973 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 → DAL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
MCO → DAL cancelled 129 of 8,345 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 65. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 63.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 102 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 129 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.
82 cancellations, 63.6% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
26 cancellations, 20.2% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
21 cancellations, 16.3% 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.
129 coded cancellations were recorded on MCO → DAL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
51 min late
against a median of 1 min early
Percentiles over 8,345 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DAL after arriving from MCO.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 47% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 27% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.7% | 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 1.55% of the time and diverts 0.42% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,181 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 51 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,345 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
MCO → DAL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.0% of the time, against 51.8% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 39.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.4% on time from 934 flights
- 7 AM: 90.5% on time from 565 flights
- 8 AM: 87.5% on time from 518 flights
- 9 AM: 83.3% on time from 658 flights
- 10 AM: 79.0% on time from 526 flights
- 11 AM: 78.2% on time from 296 flights
- 12 PM: 80.3% on time from 476 flights
- 1 PM: 66.3% on time from 264 flights
- 2 PM: 72.8% on time from 433 flights
- 3 PM: 63.8% on time from 457 flights
- 4 PM: 64.5% on time from 495 flights
- 5 PM: 60.6% on time from 595 flights
- 6 PM: 53.9% on time from 482 flights
- 7 PM: 55.7% on time from 632 flights
- 8 PM: 55.4% on time from 673 flights
- 9 PM: 51.8% on time from 341 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why MCO → DAL 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 → DAL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MCO → DAL, at 41.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.0% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 51.8%.
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 | 8,345 | 72.3% | 1.55% | -1 min | 8.3% |
Other ways to fly Orlando to Dallas–Fort Worth
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCO→DFW Orlando to Dallas–Fort Worth | 15,277 | 71.6% | 2.32% | -4 min | 43 |
| MCO→DAL this route Orlando to Dallas | 8,345 | 72.3% | 1.55% | -1 min | 56 |
MCO → DAL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 72.3% on time, against 71.6% for MCO → DFW.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 11.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 72.0%
- Feb: 79.0%
- Mar: 69.1%
- Apr: 76.2%
- May: 65.6%
- Jun: 64.6%
- Jul: 64.8%
- Aug: 70.3%
- Sep: 75.9%
- Oct: 77.8%
- Nov: 84.3%
- Dec: 73.4%
June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 19.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 57.3% from 243 flights
- August 2023: 70.8% from 229 flights
- September 2023: 71.5% from 204 flights
- October 2023: 75.6% from 240 flights
- November 2023: 86.4% from 236 flights
- December 2023: 74.1% from 248 flights
- January 2024: 62.7% from 239 flights
- February 2024: 79.5% from 220 flights
- March 2024: 54.9% from 239 flights
- April 2024: 70.8% from 226 flights
- May 2024: 61.5% from 232 flights
- June 2024: 64.1% from 240 flights
- July 2024: 59.7% from 249 flights
- August 2024: 71.3% from 183 flights
- September 2024: 73.1% from 167 flights
- October 2024: 87.4% from 224 flights
- November 2024: 87.5% from 228 flights
- December 2024: 72.3% from 239 flights
- January 2025: 75.8% from 223 flights
- February 2025: 81.4% from 205 flights
- March 2025: 77.4% from 240 flights
- April 2025: 84.4% from 230 flights
- May 2025: 65.5% from 234 flights
- June 2025: 68.6% from 244 flights
- July 2025: 68.4% from 250 flights
- August 2025: 68.4% from 171 flights
- September 2025: 84.9% from 154 flights
- October 2025: 71.2% from 228 flights
- November 2025: 78.5% from 222 flights
- December 2025: 73.6% from 238 flights
- January 2026: 78.4% from 222 flights
- February 2026: 76.1% from 209 flights
- March 2026: 75.0% from 246 flights
- April 2026: 73.3% from 234 flights
- May 2026: 69.6% from 238 flights
- June 2026: 60.7% from 232 flights
- July 2026: 73.9% from 239 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.4% against 76.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.7 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,345 MCO → DAL 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