Orlando to Houston

What the Data Says About MCO to IAH

The Orlando to Houston corridor (MCO → IAH) covers roughly 854 miles and is served by 17 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 20,518 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 7,283 flights were recorded on this pairing — 123 cancelled (1.7%) and 25 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 17 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 20,518 total flights analyzed, the 79.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.1-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 64% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MCO to IAH route, the combination of a 79.5% on-time rate, 80.1-minute average delay, 1.7% recent cancellation rate, and 17 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.