Route profile
PHL→FLL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale, 992 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 13% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,837 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
PHL → FLL arrives on time 73.7% of the time; the return trip, FLL → PHL, arrives on time 72.9% of the time.
PHL → FLL spends 28.0 minutes on the ground on a 992-mile trip: 20.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHL and 7.5 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's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 91% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth run 72 minutes worse than that.
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 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where PHL to FLL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
PHL to FLL struggles most at 2 PM: 59.2% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 14.1 points behind the 73.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 15.4 points.
Saturday is the day PHL to FLL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 72.7% on time where they average 77.5%, 4.8 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.4 points.
In March, PHL to FLL runs 8.3 points below routes of similar length, 67.6% on time to 75.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.3 points.
June is kinder to PHL to FLL than to routes of similar length: 75.2% on time against 71.5%, 3.7 points better.
PHL to FLL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 59.2% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | −14.1 pts | 179 here, 185,284 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 72.7% | routes of similar length | 77.5% | −4.8 pts | 1,251 here, 406,372 there |
| Month: March | 67.6% | routes of similar length | 75.9% | −8.3 pts | 824 here, 267,090 there |
| Month: June | 75.2% | routes of similar length | 71.5% | +3.7 pts | 630 here, 246,222 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 992 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 PHL → FLL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
PHL → FLL cancelled 193 of 8,837 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 46. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 75.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 61 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 193 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.
146 cancellations, 75.6% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
38 cancellations, 19.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
9 cancellations, 4.7% 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.
193 coded cancellations were recorded on PHL → FLL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
65 min late
against a median of 7 min early
PHL → FLL has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth are 72 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 8,837 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at FLL after arriving from PHL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 19% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.9% | 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 2.18% of the time and diverts 0.28% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,619 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 65 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,837 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
PHL → FLL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 82.5% of the time, against 64.0% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 18.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 91.5% on time from 637 flights
- 6 AM: 84.2% on time from 756 flights
- 7 AM: 76.7% on time from 692 flights
- 8 AM: 79.4% on time from 1,023 flights
- 9 AM: 74.7% on time from 274 flights
- 10 AM: 83.1% on time from 616 flights
- 11 AM: 75.2% on time from 744 flights
- 12 PM: 72.3% on time from 292 flights
- 1 PM: 67.8% on time from 457 flights
- 2 PM: 59.2% on time from 186 flights
- 3 PM: 68.4% on time from 241 flights
- 4 PM: 66.7% on time from 206 flights
- 5 PM: 60.4% on time from 387 flights
- 6 PM: 64.3% on time from 722 flights
- 7 PM: 66.4% on time from 749 flights
- 8 PM: 62.5% on time from 614 flights
- 9 PM: 70.5% on time from 154 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why PHL → FLL 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 PHL → FLL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHL → FLL, at 40.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 82.5% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 64.0%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 4,001 | 74.5% | 2.07% | -7 min | 11.2% |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,499 | 73.8% | 2.28% | -7 min | 10.4% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,565 | 73.0% | 2.04% | -7 min | 11.8% |
| JetBlue | 757 | 70.1% | 2.64% | -4 min | 11.2% |
American Airlines flew 45.4% of the 8,822 flights listed.
American Airlines arrived on time 4.4 percentage points more often than JetBlue on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA1864 American Airlines | 7:00 PM | 1,081 | 68.7% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 69.6%
- Feb: 76.6%
- Mar: 67.6%
- Apr: 77.1%
- May: 74.7%
- Jun: 75.2%
- Jul: 66.1%
- Aug: 66.2%
- Sep: 80.7%
- Oct: 83.9%
- Nov: 80.9%
- Dec: 72.4%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 17.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 62.7% from 220 flights
- August 2023: 71.6% from 235 flights
- September 2023: 73.7% from 198 flights
- October 2023: 81.9% from 188 flights
- November 2023: 80.5% from 190 flights
- December 2023: 77.7% from 229 flights
- January 2024: 72.6% from 244 flights
- February 2024: 80.4% from 230 flights
- March 2024: 66.7% from 261 flights
- April 2024: 85.4% from 270 flights
- May 2024: 74.6% from 250 flights
- June 2024: 73.0% from 186 flights
- July 2024: 63.4% from 201 flights
- August 2024: 60.2% from 212 flights
- September 2024: 85.2% from 158 flights
- October 2024: 87.3% from 158 flights
- November 2024: 88.4% from 164 flights
- December 2024: 73.6% from 203 flights
- January 2025: 67.8% from 203 flights
- February 2025: 76.9% from 189 flights
- March 2025: 71.2% from 242 flights
- April 2025: 79.1% from 283 flights
- May 2025: 69.4% from 211 flights
- June 2025: 69.9% from 171 flights
- July 2025: 69.4% from 234 flights
- August 2025: 65.9% from 253 flights
- September 2025: 83.7% from 213 flights
- October 2025: 83.2% from 258 flights
- November 2025: 76.3% from 260 flights
- December 2025: 67.9% from 325 flights
- January 2026: 68.4% from 328 flights
- February 2026: 73.3% from 311 flights
- March 2026: 65.8% from 345 flights
- April 2026: 68.7% from 337 flights
- May 2026: 79.2% from 256 flights
- June 2026: 79.7% from 291 flights
- July 2026: 67.7% from 330 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 72.6% against 74.2% in the 12 months before — declining by 1.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,837 PHL → 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