I thought the latest update 1.18.14.0 was supposed to improve load times. Certainly not for me. Not sure if it got worst but it certainly didnt get better.
Below are some times I (consistently) recorded
From starting MSFS to XBox Screen - 30 Seconds
From starting MSFS to Looking for Update screen - 1 Minute, 15 Seconds
From starting MSFS to Home/Main Screen - 3 Minutes, 10 Seconds
From clicking the “Fly” button to actual Fly Screen - 55 Seconds
My PC config:
Device name AlienwareR6
Processor Intel(R) Core™ i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz 4.20 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB
After that go to desktop and right click on MSFS_fast_launch and select properties.
Click change icon.
Browse and select MSFS_Fastlaunch.ico
Click > open > ok > apply > ok.