Airport month record
MCOMAR
Orlando International in March 2026
- Departures
- 15,497
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at MCO, see live FAA status.
MCO in March carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 4.0% of scheduled flights never operate, against 2.9% nationally. Of the ones that do fly, about seven flights in ten arrive on time, worth a C− overall. The punctuality figure counts only flights that actually departed, so it flatters an operation that cancels this often. That rests on 15,497 flights, of which United Airlines flew 1,497 at 80.0% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the seven carriers covered here at 80.0% on time across 1,497 flights.
Key figures
On time
70.5%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 14,832 completed departures
Avg delay
73 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
3.96%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
74.6%
MCO across all twelve months
These figures cover 15,497 departures from Orlando International in March 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
March next to MCO's other months
Against MCO's own year, March ran 4 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 74.6%, which makes it number ten of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where March stands out: 3.96% of scheduled departures were called off, 2.2 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 72.9% on time and April 77.6%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 11,256 | 84.6% | 60 min | 0.22% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 13,245 | 75.6% | 70 min | 0.55% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 13,206 | 79.1% | 76 min | 1.92% | B |
| December 2025 | 14,287 | 71.7% | 69 min | 1.36% | C |
| January 2026 | 13,786 | 75.4% | 66 min | 3.87% | B− |
| February 2026 | 13,339 | 72.9% | 66 min | 2.61% | C |
| March 2026 (this page) | 15,497 | 70.5% | 73 min | 3.96% | C− |
| April 2026 | 14,604 | 77.6% | 60 min | 0.39% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 12,958 | 78.5% | 64 min | 0.70% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 12,541 | 73.3% | 77 min | 1.00% | C |
| July 2026 | 13,136 | 68.2% | 83 min | 2.41% | C |
| August 2026 | 12,085 | 68.3% | 86 min | 2.16% | C |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave MCO in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 34 points, against 29 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am2,312 flights90.9%
- 8am–11am2,840 flights81.8%
- 11am–2pm2,377 flights72.0%
- 2pm–5pm2,683 flights60.8%
- 5pm–8pm2,861 flights61.0%
- 8pm–5am2,424 flights56.8%
Scale runs 50% to 95%.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 56.8% on time, against 90.9% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 5pm–8pm window is the busiest, with 2,861 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 77.2% on time and Saturday the weakest at 61.2%, a spread of 16 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MCO in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 80.0% of the time; Spirit Airlines manages 51.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 1,553 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 4,688 | 69.0% | 63 min | 2.79% | C |
| Delta Air Lines | 2,033 | 75.8% | 79 min | 5.16% | B− |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,006 | 71.9% | 83 min | 3.94% | C− |
| American Airlines | 1,752 | 73.8% | 83 min | 3.08% | C− |
| JetBlue Airways | 1,661 | 71.2% | 70 min | 3.07% | C− |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,553 | 51.3% | 70 min | 9.98% | F− |
| United Airlines | 1,497 | 80.0% | 94 min | 2.14% | B |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 228 | 74.2% | 70 min | 1.75% | C |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 47 | 68.9% | 70 min | 4.26% | C− |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 32 | 43.8% | 62 min | 0.00% | F+ |
Spirit Airlines cancels 10.0% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MCO in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCO to ATL · Atlanta | 782 | 74.0% | 82 min | 4.60% | C− |
| MCO to ORD · Chicago | 689 | 60.2% | 89 min | 5.08% | D− |
| MCO to EWR · Newark | 658 | 70.6% | 78 min | 2.89% | C |
| MCO to LGA · New York | 521 | 57.7% | 77 min | 9.02% | D− |
| MCO to SJU · San Juan | 517 | 65.3% | 66 min | 1.93% | C |
| MCO to PHL · Philadelphia | 491 | 68.6% | 78 min | 3.87% | C− |
| MCO to BOS · Boston | 487 | 69.1% | 72 min | 3.70% | C− |
| MCO to DEN · Denver | 467 | 81.4% | 81 min | 2.14% | B |
| MCO to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 451 | 73.1% | 100 min | 3.77% | C− |
| MCO to JFK · New York | 443 | 74.5% | 75 min | 4.29% | C− |
| MCO to CLT · Charlotte | 425 | 80.7% | 54 min | 4.47% | B− |
| MCO to BWI · Baltimore | 418 | 64.3% | 61 min | 4.31% | D− |
| MCO to DTW · Detroit | 413 | 62.2% | 65 min | 4.84% | D− |
| MCO to DCA · Washington | 380 | 65.5% | 67 min | 3.95% | C− |
| MCO to IAH · Houston | 366 | 81.4% | 91 min | 4.37% | B− |
| MCO to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 328 | 70.5% | 58 min | 3.96% | C− |
| MCO to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 309 | 82.8% | 77 min | 2.27% | B |
| MCO to MIA · Miamithin sample | 298 | 73.8% | 67 min | 2.68% | C |
| MCO to AUS · Austinthin sample | 288 | 79.1% | 105 min | 3.12% | B− |
| MCO to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 286 | 63.9% | 73 min | 5.59% | D− |
| MCO to IND · Indianapolisthin sample | 274 | 67.9% | 78 min | 2.19% | C |
| MCO to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 265 | 74.1% | 76 min | 2.26% | C |
| MCO to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 260 | 65.9% | 72 min | 4.23% | C− |
| MCO to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 246 | 75.0% | 70 min | 3.25% | B− |
| MCO to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 237 | 65.9% | 58 min | 3.38% | C− |
Delay causes
What held MCO up in March
Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 42% of the 321,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 42%Late-arriving aircraft
- 28%Carrier
- 24%National Airspace System
- 6%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
42% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 321,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 7 to one. The split is drawn from 320,986 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 3.96%, against 2.90% nationally. That is about one flight in 25 cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
11.3% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% nationally. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum for a connection here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from MCO in March
For a March trip through MCO: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 90.9% on time, and with 11.3% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in September would.
Related
Where to go next
- Orlando International (MCO), the whole year
- MCO in September84.6%
- MCO in October75.6%
- MCO in November79.1%
- MCO in December71.7%
- MCO in January75.4%
- MCO in February72.9%
- MCO in April77.6%
- MCO in May78.5%
- MCO in June73.3%
- MCO in July68.2%
- MCO in August68.3%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.