According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Orlando, FL (MCO) ranks #10 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Orlando, FL posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
Compare MCO to another hub, filter routes, or browse airline stats without leaving this profile.
MCO on-time rate vs. the national average
Behind the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Orlando, FL sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Orlando, FL handles more flight
volume than 98% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
6% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and delay-prone.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
Orlando, FL vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 1,718,833 ·
On-time rate: 76.7%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes14,309,235 min
Late Aircraft5,556,026 min · 39%
Carrier4,536,725 min · 32%
NAS (National Aviation System)3,157,574 min · 22%
Weather1,003,961 min · 7%
Security54,949 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
MCO - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: October (91%) · worst: July (83.4%)
MCO - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
MCO - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 18.9 min · taxi-in 10.7 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
MCO's average taxi-out (18.9 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is August 2025 at 21.4 min; the lightest is October 2024 at 16.5 min.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Orlando, FL, both outside Florida so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Orlando, FL is traffic scale: 1,718,833 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #10 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 76.7% on-time rate (2.3 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average), 400,272 delayed departures, and 19,434 cancellations (1.13% of the book).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (38.8% late-aircraft, 31.7% carrier, 22.1% NAS, 7.0% weather, 0.4% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, MCO is strongest in October (91% on-time) and weakest in July (83.4%), a 7.6-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~27,728 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ATL (Atlanta) at 78.1% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Orlando, FL vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
76.7%Top 94%higher than 6% of 382 airports
Orlando, FL
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
MCO's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from MCO before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in October rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. August 2025 averaged 21.4 min. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Orlando, FL's on-time rate?
Orlando, FL (MCO) has a 76.7% on-time rate across 1,718,833 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.3 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does MCO rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Orlando, FL ranks #10 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at Orlando, FL?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at MCO, accounting for 38.8% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 38.8% late-aircraft, 31.7% carrier, 22.1% NAS/air-traffic-control, 7.0% weather, and 0.4% security.
When is the best time to fly through Orlando, FL?
October is historically MCO's strongest month at 91% on-time, while July is the weakest at 83.4%, a 7.6-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights