FlightRecord

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD): Delays & On-Time Performance

Data through May 2026

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) is a tale of two seasons: departures ran 86% on-time in October 2024 but sank to 65% in July 2025. Across the year it averages 75% against a national 78%, over roughly 974 departures a day to 193 destinations.

Departures on-time
75%
left <15 min late
Avg dep delay
20 min
Arrivals on-time
75%
Cancelled
1.8%
Destinations
193
nonstop
Airlines
13

Monthly on-time trend

Monthly departure on-time percentage at ORD50%75%100%June 2024: 71% on-time (24,207 flights)71Jun 2024July 2024: 68% on-time (24,531 flights)68August 2024: 71% on-time (25,500 flights)71September 2024: 84% on-time (24,847 flights)84Sep 2024October 2024: 86% on-time (25,211 flights)86November 2024: 85% on-time (22,435 flights)85December 2024: 78% on-time (22,668 flights)78Dec 2024January 2025: 80% on-time (21,643 flights)80February 2025: 79% on-time (19,989 flights)79March 2025: 78% on-time (24,580 flights)78Mar 2025April 2025: 82% on-time (26,136 flights)82May 2025: 80% on-time (27,990 flights)80June 2025: 71% on-time (29,641 flights)71Jun 2025July 2025: 65% on-time (30,503 flights)65August 2025: 73% on-time (30,090 flights)73September 2025: 79% on-time (28,867 flights)79Sep 2025October 2025: 77% on-time (31,096 flights)77November 2025: 76% on-time (28,703 flights)76December 2025: 65% on-time (27,790 flights)65Dec 2025January 2026: 71% on-time (25,131 flights)71February 2026: 78% on-time (25,538 flights)78March 2026: 69% on-time (31,373 flights)69Mar 2026April 2026: 74% on-time (33,206 flights)74May 2026: 77% on-time (33,733 flights)77

Best time of day to depart from ORD

On-time percentage by scheduled departure hour at ORD5 a.m.: 91% on-time (6,220 flights)56 a.m.: 90% on-time (18,473 flights)67 a.m.: 89% on-time (46,200 flights)78 a.m.: 85% on-time (55,714 flights)89 a.m.: 82% on-time (47,130 flights)910 a.m.: 80% on-time (46,886 flights)1011 a.m.: 77% on-time (31,248 flights)1112 p.m.: 78% on-time (31,348 flights)121 p.m.: 78% on-time (42,711 flights)132 p.m.: 75% on-time (44,789 flights)143 p.m.: 73% on-time (33,082 flights)154 p.m.: 71% on-time (35,756 flights)165 p.m.: 69% on-time (30,683 flights)176 p.m.: 70% on-time (52,499 flights)187 p.m.: 62% on-time (42,259 flights)198 p.m.: 63% on-time (44,639 flights)209 p.m.: 65% on-time (25,714 flights)2110 p.m.: 62% on-time (9,551 flights)2211 p.m.: 64% on-time (243 flights)23scheduled departure hour

Busiest routes from ORD

RouteFlights/12moOn-timeAvg delay
ORD → LGA11,63471%24 min
ORD → BOS7,56172%22 min
ORD → LAX6,98176%18 min
ORD → DFW6,92572%24 min
ORD → DCA6,91871%24 min
ORD → MCO6,41975%19 min
ORD → ATL6,39175%21 min
ORD → MSP6,33071%22 min

Most reliable routes

  1. ORD → BIS83%
  2. ORD → PNS82%
  3. ORD → MHT81%
  4. ORD → BIL80%
  5. ORD → ECP80%

Most delay-prone routes

  1. ORD → FAT50%
  2. ORD → IDA57%
  3. ORD → ASE57%
  4. ORD → ONT58%
  5. ORD → SHD59%

Airline performance at ORD

AirlineOn-time departuresAvg delayFlights
Republic Airways82%13 min54,690
Envoy Air78%14 min93,949
United Airlines77%17 min190,032
Delta Air Lines77%22 min21,751
Southwest Airlines77%16 min9,353
JetBlue Airways76%25 min2,243
Alaska Airlines73%17 min6,241
SkyWest Airlines73%25 min129,934
American Airlines70%25 min112,867
Frontier Airlines70%32 min7,570
Spirit Airlines70%25 min13,147
PSA Airlines63%51 min3,619

Frequently asked questions

How often are flights delayed at ORD?
25% of departures from Chicago O'Hare International Airport left 15+ minutes late between 2024-06 and 2026-05, with an average departure delay of 20 minutes. The national on-time average over the same period was 78%.
What is the best time of day to depart from ORD?
Flights scheduled around 5 a.m. depart on time 91% of the time at ORD, versus 62% around 10 p.m.. Booking before noon is the usual rule of thumb here.
What is the worst month for delays at ORD?
In this dataset, July 2025 was the weakest month at ORD, with 65% of departures on time.
How often are flights cancelled at ORD?
1.8% of scheduled departures from ORD were cancelled in this period, compared with a national rate of 1.6%.

Popular route pages from this airport

Based on 645,408 flights, 2024-06–2026-05. Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Updated 2026-07-01.