According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Chicago, IL (ORD) ranks #4 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Chicago, IL posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
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ORD on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes: 22,681,763.
Late Aircraft39.2% (8,894,538 min)
Carrier33.6% (7,611,798 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)19.5% (4,412,102 min)
Weather7.7% (1,743,310 min)
Security0.1% (20,015 min)
ORD - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: March (92.2%) · worst: July (86.6%)
ORD - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
ORD - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 24.8 min · taxi-in 17.4 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
ORD's average taxi-out (24.8 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is December 2025 at 30.7 min; the lightest is February 2024 at 21.1 min.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Chicago, IL, both outside Illinois so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Chicago, IL is traffic scale: 3,114,086 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #4 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 81% on-time rate (2 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average), 592,111 delayed departures, and 36,132 cancellations (1.16% of the book).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (39.2% late-aircraft, 33.6% carrier, 19.5% NAS, 7.7% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, ORD is strongest in March (92.2% on-time) and weakest in July (86.6%), a 5.6-point swing. Volume peaks in August (~48,067 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to LGA (New York) at 78.2% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Chicago, IL vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
81%Top 77%higher than 23% of 382 airports
Chicago, IL
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
ORD's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from ORD before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in March rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. December 2025 averaged 30.7 min. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chicago, IL's on-time rate?
Chicago, IL (ORD) has a 81% on-time rate across 3,114,086 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does ORD rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Chicago, IL ranks #4 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at Chicago, IL?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at ORD, accounting for 39.2% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 39.2% late-aircraft, 33.6% carrier, 19.5% NAS/air-traffic-control, 7.7% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through Chicago, IL?
March is historically ORD's strongest month at 92.2% on-time, while July is the weakest at 86.6%, a 5.6-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights