Route profile
ORD→FLL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale, 1,182 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 25% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,570 flights. How this is calculated
ORD → FLL arrives on time 74.7% of the time; the return trip, FLL → ORD, arrives on time 71.0% of the time, a 3.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
ORD → FLL spends 31.4 minutes on the ground on a 1,182-mile trip: 23.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 7.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at FLL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where ORD to FLL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ORD to FLL struggles most at 9 AM: 73.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 9.7 points behind the 83.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.5 points.
Saturday is the day ORD to FLL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 72.9% on time where they average 77.2%, 4.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.2 points.
In March, ORD to FLL runs 9.7 points below routes of similar length, 65.9% on time to 75.6%. Against all other routes the gap is 12 points.
June is kinder to ORD to FLL than to routes of similar length: 75.6% on time against 71.6%, 4 points better.
Spirit Airlines’ flights on ORD to FLL arrive on time 69.5% of the time, 4 points below the 73.5% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 5.8 points.
ORD to FLL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 AM departures | 73.8% | routes of similar length | 83.5% | −9.7 pts | 126 here, 111,428 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 72.9% | routes of similar length | 77.2% | −4.3 pts | 1,382 here, 285,097 there |
| Month: March | 65.9% | routes of similar length | 75.6% | −9.7 pts | 1,015 here, 191,192 there |
| Month: June | 75.6% | routes of similar length | 71.6% | +4.0 pts | 591 here, 169,876 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 69.5% | routes of similar length | 73.5% | −4.0 pts | 3,370 here, 129,771 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 1,182 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 ORD → FLL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
ORD → FLL cancelled 147 of 9,570 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 65. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 55.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 117 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 147 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, 55.8% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
47 cancellations, 32.0% 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, 12.2% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
147 coded cancellations were recorded on ORD → FLL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
56 min late
against a median of 5 min early
ORD → FLL has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth are 61 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 9,570 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at FLL after arriving from ORD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.5% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.1% | 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 1.54% of the time and diverts 0.30% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,394 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 9,570 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ORD → FLL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 84.3% of the time, against 63.0% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 21.3 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 1,038 flights
- 6 AM: 90.4% on time from 190 flights
- 7 AM: 85.5% on time from 1,507 flights
- 8 AM: 77.4% on time from 933 flights
- 9 AM: 73.8% on time from 128 flights
- 10 AM: 74.0% on time from 1,538 flights
- 11 AM: 80.4% on time from 384 flights
- 12 PM: 68.4% on time from 496 flights
- 1 PM: 72.9% on time from 120 flights
- 2 PM: 76.6% on time from 308 flights
- 3 PM: 66.1% on time from 246 flights
- 4 PM: 61.2% on time from 407 flights
- 5 PM: 65.3% on time from 383 flights
- 6 PM: 62.8% on time from 1,119 flights
- 7 PM: 63.0% on time from 539 flights
- 8 PM: 64.3% on time from 189 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why ORD → FLL runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
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 ORD → FLL. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 4,064 | 80.1% | 1.16% | -6 min | 6.8% |
| Spirit Airlines | 3,443 | 69.5% | 1.95% | -3 min | 12.4% |
| American Airlines | 1,779 | 73.8% | 1.24% | -7 min | 10.3% |
United Airlines flew 43.8% of the 9,286 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 10.6 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Chicago to Miami
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD→MIA Chicago to Miami | 13,646 | 76.1% | 1.34% | -6 min | 61 |
| ORD→FLL this route Chicago to Fort Lauderdale | 9,570 | 74.7% | 1.54% | -5 min | 55 |
ORD → MIA is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 76.1% on time, against 74.7% for ORD → FLL.
Flying to FLL from the Chicago area? Compare ORD, MDW for FLL, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| UA1421 United Airlines | 7:00 AM | 605 | 91.5% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.8 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 71.3%
- Feb: 79.4%
- Mar: 65.9%
- Apr: 77.6%
- May: 73.3%
- Jun: 75.6%
- Jul: 70.3%
- Aug: 73.6%
- Sep: 79.3%
- Oct: 83.1%
- Nov: 78.9%
- Dec: 73.3%
March is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 17.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 66.7% from 149 flights
- August 2023: 75.2% from 203 flights
- September 2023: 74.9% from 205 flights
- October 2023: 80.2% from 253 flights
- November 2023: 74.7% from 265 flights
- December 2023: 76.1% from 306 flights
- January 2024: 64.3% from 297 flights
- February 2024: 80.4% from 291 flights
- March 2024: 67.6% from 319 flights
- April 2024: 79.9% from 301 flights
- May 2024: 65.1% from 280 flights
- June 2024: 69.0% from 213 flights
- July 2024: 63.5% from 185 flights
- August 2024: 62.9% from 217 flights
- September 2024: 81.1% from 175 flights
- October 2024: 89.1% from 194 flights
- November 2024: 86.4% from 258 flights
- December 2024: 77.0% from 282 flights
- January 2025: 82.6% from 277 flights
- February 2025: 83.3% from 242 flights
- March 2025: 76.2% from 294 flights
- April 2025: 83.3% from 271 flights
- May 2025: 80.5% from 223 flights
- June 2025: 82.3% from 194 flights
- July 2025: 79.2% from 212 flights
- August 2025: 83.4% from 204 flights
- September 2025: 82.3% from 206 flights
- October 2025: 81.3% from 219 flights
- November 2025: 75.8% from 288 flights
- December 2025: 67.9% from 362 flights
- January 2026: 67.9% from 381 flights
- February 2026: 75.8% from 355 flights
- March 2026: 57.3% from 440 flights
- April 2026: 70.4% from 327 flights
- May 2026: 76.3% from 228 flights
- June 2026: 75.9% from 202 flights
- July 2026: 69.8% from 252 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 72.0% against 80.3% in the 12 months before — declining by 8.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,570 ORD → 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