Route profile
RSW→PHL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Myers to Philadelphia, 993 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 8% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,335 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
RSW → PHL arrives on time 73.7% of the time; the return trip, PHL → RSW, arrives on time 74.2% of the time.
RSW → PHL spends 25.2 minutes on the ground on a 993-mile trip: 16.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at RSW and 8.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at PHL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 98% of 5,368 comparable routes.
72.8% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 72.7% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where RSW to PHL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
RSW to PHL struggles most at 10 AM: 68.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 13.9 points behind the 82.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.2 points.
RSW to PHL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 AM: 93.5% arrive on time, 5.3 points ahead of the 88.2% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
Sunday is the day RSW to PHL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 67.5% on time where they average 73.6%, 6.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 7.3 points.
In March, RSW to PHL runs 10 points below routes of similar length, 65.8% on time to 75.8%. Against all other routes the gap is 12.1 points.
Frontier Airlines’ flights on RSW to PHL arrive on time 66.5% of the time, 6.8 points below the 73.3% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 4.8 points.
RSW to PHL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 AM departures | 68.5% | routes of similar length | 82.4% | −13.9 pts | 127 here, 166,846 there |
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 93.5% | routes of similar length | 88.2% | +5.3 pts | 626 here, 248,149 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 67.5% | routes of similar length | 73.6% | −6.1 pts | 637 here, 449,236 there |
| Month: March | 65.8% | routes of similar length | 75.8% | −10.0 pts | 477 here, 265,960 there |
| Airline: Frontier Airlines | 66.5% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | −6.8 pts | 1,142 here, 157,719 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 993 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 RSW → PHL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
RSW → PHL cancelled 106 of 4,335 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 41. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 69.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 59 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 106 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.
74 cancellations, 69.8% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
28 cancellations, 26.4% 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, 3.8% 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.
106 coded cancellations were recorded on RSW → PHL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
69 min late
against a median of 4 min early
RSW → PHL has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 4 min early, but the worst tenth are 73 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 4,335 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at PHL after arriving from RSW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 41% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 19% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.7% | 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 2.45% of the time and diverts 0.07% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,226 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 69 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,335 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
RSW → PHL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 93.5% of the time, against 60.7% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 32.8 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.5% on time from 190 flights
- 7 AM: 93.5% on time from 636 flights
- 8 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 68.5% on time from 131 flights
- 11 AM: 69.7% on time from 343 flights
- 12 PM: 76.8% on time from 609 flights
- 1 PM: 70.2% on time from 124 flights
- 2 PM: 64.9% on time from 830 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 61.9% on time from 131 flights
- 5 PM: 70.3% on time from 475 flights
- 6 PM: too few flights to score
- 7 PM: 52.7% on time from 138 flights
- 8 PM: 65.2% on time from 145 flights
- 9 PM: 65.9% on time from 229 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why RSW → PHL 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 RSW → PHL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on RSW → PHL, at 52.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 93.5% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 60.7%.
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 | 3,044 | 76.3% | 1.97% | -5 min | 10.5% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,186 | 66.5% | 3.63% | -3 min | 14.3% |
American Airlines flew 72.0% of the 4,230 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 3.63% of its flights here against 1.97% for American Airlines.
American Airlines arrived on time 9.8 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 72.9%
- Feb: 74.7%
- Mar: 65.8%
- Apr: 76.2%
- May: 72.9%
- Jun: 74.7%
- Jul: 67.4%
- Aug: 68.5%
- Sep: 77.4%
- Oct: 78.7%
- Nov: 87.4%
- Dec: 72.2%
March is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 21.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (118)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (105)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (109)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (109)
- November 2023: 88.2% from 127 flights
- December 2023: 80.9% from 163 flights
- January 2024: 72.6% from 184 flights
- February 2024: 75.3% from 166 flights
- March 2024: 69.0% from 173 flights
- April 2024: 82.8% from 130 flights
- May 2024: too few flights to score (84)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (78)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (79)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (77)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (76)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (76)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (104)
- December 2024: 67.6% from 142 flights
- January 2025: 77.6% from 127 flights
- February 2025: 80.2% from 123 flights
- March 2025: 63.9% from 151 flights
- April 2025: 75.8% from 181 flights
- May 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (101)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (80)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (73)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (81)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- December 2025: 66.4% from 133 flights
- January 2026: 68.2% from 121 flights
- February 2026: 68.9% from 142 flights
- March 2026: 64.2% from 166 flights
- April 2026: too few flights to score (109)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (114)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (102)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (94)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 72.8% against 72.7% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,335 RSW → PHL 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