Orlando to New Orleans

What the Data Says About MCO to MSY

The Orlando to New Orleans corridor (MCO → MSY) covers roughly 551 miles and is served by 8 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 12,383 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 75.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 67.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,811 flights were recorded on this pairing — 74 cancelled (1.5%) and 12 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 8 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 12,383 total flights analyzed, the 75.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 67.7-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 94% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 64% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MCO to MSY route, the combination of a 75.6% on-time rate, 67.7-minute average delay, 1.5% recent cancellation rate, and 8 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.