Best time to fly out of Orlando (MCO)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Orlando: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 92.2% of the time, against 56.5% in the 8–10pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 90 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 92 | 91 | 90 |
| 6–8am | 91 | 93 | 94 | 93 | 92 | 92 | 91 |
| 8–10am | 85 | 89 | 90 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 85 |
| 10am–12pm | 80 | 85 | 84 | 82 | 81 | 78 | 79 |
| 12–2pm | 74 | 79 | 79 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 72 |
| 2–4pm | 70 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 69 | 67 | 66 |
| 4–6pm | 66 | 71 | 69 | 67 | 66 | 61 | 59 |
| 6–8pm | 61 | 68 | 67 | 62 | 60 | 57 | 53 |
| 8–10pm | 55 | 65 | 62 | 57 | 57 | 53 | 49 |
| 10pm–12am | 57 | 66 | 69 | 60 | 56 | 57 | 51 |
The steadiest stretch at MCO was 6–8am — 92.2% of departures left on time across 71,065 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 56.5%. 6–8am departures from MCO left on time 92.2% of the time across 71,065 flights; 6–8pm departures, 60.9% across 61,472. That is a gap of 31.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at MCO
July was the hard month at MCO: 62.4% of departures left on time, across 40,686 flights. November was the easy one at 81.6%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 75.3% | 41,140 |
| February | 78.2% | 39,491 |
| March | 72.6% | 46,218 |
| April | 79.2% | 42,976 |
| May | 72.7% | 40,392 |
| June | 70.5% | 38,950 |
| July | 62.4% | 40,686 |
| August | 68.2% | 38,279 |
| September | 80.8% | 34,285 |
| October | 81.1% | 39,461 |
| November | 81.6% | 40,187 |
| December | 74.3% | 43,020 |
Airlines at MCO
Every airline with at least 100 departures from MCO, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 72% | 54 min | 1.1% | 139,876 |
| Delta Air Lines | 78.5% | 83 min | 1.3% | 64,207 |
| Spirit Airlines | 72% | 68 min | 2% | 61,767 |
| American Airlines | 76.2% | 93 min | 1.7% | 56,483 |
| Frontier Airlines | 75.8% | 76 min | 1.7% | 55,652 |
| JetBlue Airways | 71.6% | 81 min | 1.7% | 54,313 |
| United Airlines | 81.5% | 86 min | 1.5% | 42,969 |
| Alaska Airlines | 77% | 65 min | 1.6% | 7,799 |
| Republic Airways | 83.8% | 96 min | 0.5% | 1,120 |
| Allegiant Air | 69.3% | 95 min | 1.8% | 837 |
What delays out of MCO were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 119,338 flights that departed MCO and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 41% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 29.1% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 41%
- Airline operations 29.1%
- Air traffic & airport volume 23%
- Severe weather 6.6%
- Security 0.4%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through MCO
Of 485,092 scheduled arrivals into MCO, 74.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 115,119 arrivals that ran late, 50.9% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of MCO
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- ATL 74.6% on time · 26,044 flights
- EWR 74.2% on time · 20,125 flights
- SJU 73.9% on time · 18,761 flights
- PHL 72.6% on time · 17,037 flights
- ORD 73.9% on time · 16,679 flights
- LGA 73% on time · 15,619 flights
- CLT 77.3% on time · 15,547 flights
- BWI 76% on time · 15,458 flights
- DFW 71.7% on time · 14,838 flights
- BOS 72.7% on time · 14,564 flights
MCO in one number
Orlando (MCO)
Rank 10 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about MCO
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Orlando?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 92.2% of the time across 71,065 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 56.5%.
- Is the early flight out of MCO really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from MCO left on time 92.2% of the time across 71,065 flights; 6–8pm departures, 60.9% across 61,472. That is a gap of 31.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of MCO?
- July: 62.4% of the departures that flew left on time, with 40,686 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 81.6%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at MCO?
- Republic Airways — 83.8% of its 1,120 departures from MCO left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 69.3% over 837 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at MCO?
- 1.5% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.