Raleigh/Durham to Orlando

What the Data Says About RDU to MCO

The Raleigh/Durham to Orlando corridor (RDU → MCO) covers roughly 534 miles and is served by 31 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 13,943 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 86.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,335 flights were recorded on this pairing — 85 cancelled (1.6%) and 10 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 31 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 13,943 total flights analyzed, the 79.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 86.3-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 90% on-time, while Aug 2024 came in at 65% on-time — a 25-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the RDU to MCO route, the combination of a 79.8% on-time rate, 86.3-minute average delay, 1.6% recent cancellation rate, and 31 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.