Route profile
RDU→FLL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Raleigh–Durham to Fort Lauderdale, 680 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 41% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,262 flights. How this is calculated
RDU → FLL arrives on time 77.8% of the time; the return trip, FLL → RDU, arrives on time 67.8% of the time, a 10.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
RDU → FLL spends 22.9 minutes on the ground on a 680-mile trip: 15.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at RDU and 7.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at FLL.
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 95% of 4,023 comparable routes.
87.2% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 54.1% for 6–9 PM.
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 RDU to FLL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
RDU to FLL struggles most at 6 PM: 49.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 17.8 points behind the 66.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 19.5 points.
June is kinder to RDU to FLL than to routes of similar length: 82.4% on time against 72.2%, 10.2 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 9.7 points.
In January, RDU to FLL runs 8.5 points below routes of similar length, 70.6% on time to 79.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 8.5 points.
JetBlue does better on RDU to FLL than on its routes of similar length: 82.9% on time here, 72.1% there, 10.8 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 10.7 points.
Spirit Airlines’ flights on RDU to FLL arrive on time 65.7% of the time, 7.6 points below the 73.3% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 9.6 points.
RDU to FLL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 49.1% | routes of similar length | 66.9% | −17.8 pts | 289 here, 145,063 there |
| Month: June | 82.4% | routes of similar length | 72.2% | +10.2 pts | 301 here, 186,389 there |
| Month: January | 70.6% | routes of similar length | 79.1% | −8.5 pts | 347 here, 162,546 there |
| Airline: JetBlue | 82.9% | routes of similar length | 72.1% | +10.8 pts | 1,412 here, 49,085 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 65.7% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | −7.6 pts | 905 here, 76,329 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 680 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 RDU → FLL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
RDU → FLL cancelled 63 of 4,262 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 68. The reason filed most often was the airline, 42.9% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 158 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 63 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.
27 cancellations, 42.9% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
26 cancellations, 41.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
10 cancellations, 15.9% 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.
63 coded cancellations were recorded on RDU → FLL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
47 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 4,262 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at FLL after arriving from RDU.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 38% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 21% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 8.0% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.8% | 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 1.48% of the time and diverts 0.31% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,186 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 47 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,262 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
RDU → FLL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.2% of the time, against 54.1% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 33.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 85.9% on time from 506 flights
- 7 AM: 87.9% on time from 637 flights
- 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 88.8% on time from 207 flights
- 10 AM: 80.5% on time from 221 flights
- 11 AM: 77.3% on time from 406 flights
- 12 PM: 80.5% on time from 1,092 flights
- 1 PM to 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 49.1% on time from 297 flights
- 7 PM: 62.1% on time from 128 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why RDU → 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 RDU → FLL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on RDU → FLL, at 45.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 87.2% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 54.1%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue | 1,442 | 82.9% | 1.94% | -9 min | 5.9% |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,124 | 79.8% | 0.62% | -7 min | 7.1% |
| Spirit Airlines | 928 | 65.7% | 2.26% | 1 min | 13.1% |
| Southwest Airlines | 679 | 80.7% | 0.88% | -5 min | 7.7% |
JetBlue flew 34.6% of the 4,173 flights listed. Spirit Airlines cancelled 2.26% of its flights here against 0.62% for Delta Air Lines.
JetBlue arrived on time 17.2 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
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.2 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 70.6%
- Feb: 82.1%
- Mar: 70.8%
- Apr: 81.7%
- May: 80.6%
- Jun: 82.4%
- Jul: 74.7%
- Aug: 76.1%
- Sep: 81.2%
- Oct: 85.6%
- Nov: 77.7%
- Dec: 75.3%
January is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 15.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 77.3% from 124 flights
- August 2023: 74.3% from 147 flights
- September 2023: 75.6% from 123 flights
- October 2023: 77.4% from 124 flights
- November 2023: 72.5% from 120 flights
- December 2023: 75.2% from 142 flights
- January 2024: 64.6% from 130 flights
- February 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- March 2024: 68.2% from 129 flights
- April 2024: too few flights to score (108)
- May 2024: 72.1% from 122 flights
- June 2024: 77.4% from 120 flights
- July 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (114)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (106)
- November 2024: 82.2% from 129 flights
- December 2024: 82.5% from 139 flights
- January 2025: too few flights to score (113)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (98)
- March 2025: 76.2% from 128 flights
- April 2025: too few flights to score (101)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (82)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (84)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (81)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- November 2025: 78.2% from 122 flights
- December 2025: 67.7% from 132 flights
- January 2026: too few flights to score (116)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (103)
- March 2026: 68.2% from 134 flights
- April 2026: 75.2% from 130 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (111)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- July 2026: 72.9% from 137 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.4% against 81.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,262 RDU → 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