PlainFlights

MEM vs ORD - Airport Comparison

Select two airports to compare on-time performance, delays, cancellations, and top routes using U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) data (2020–2025) across all 50 states. See our methodology for how metrics are computed.

Airport A
MEM

Memphis, TN

Memphis, Tennessee

View full profile →
Airport B
ORD

Chicago, IL

Chicago, Illinois

View full profile →

Key Performance Metrics

BTS on-time performance data, 2020–2025 cumulative.

Metric MEM ORD
On-Time Rate (higher is better) 81.3% 81.0%
Avg Delay (lower is better) 76.2 min 81.9 min
Delay Rate (lower is better) 18.7% 19.0%
Cancellation Rate (lower is better) 1.26% 1.16%
Total Flights 251,985 3,114,086
Delayed Flights 47,238 592,111
Cancelled Flights 3,171 36,132
Top Delay Cause Carrier Late Aircraft

✓ / ▲ indicates the more favorable value. Data: BTS On-Time Performance, 2020–2025.

Delay Cause Breakdown

MEM - Memphis, TN

Carrier 38.2%
Late Aircraft 35.7%
NAS 19.3%
Weather 6.7%
Security 0.2%

ORD - Chicago, IL

Late Aircraft 39.2%
Carrier 33.6%
NAS 19.5%
Weather 7.7%
Security 0.1%

Top Routes

Top routes from MEM

Route Flights On-Time
MEM → ATL
Atlanta
19,015 88.6%
ATL → MEM
Memphis
19,001 84.1%
MEM → DFW
Dallas/Fort Worth
14,035 75.6%
DFW → MEM
Memphis
14,025 74.6%
MEM → CLT
Charlotte
11,047 83.5%
CLT → MEM
Memphis
11,046 79.1%

Top routes from ORD

Route Flights On-Time
ORD → LGA
New York
56,539 78.2%
LGA → ORD
Chicago
56,521 80.8%
ORD → LAX
Los Angeles
37,020 79.8%
LAX → ORD
Chicago
36,987 84.3%
ORD → DEN
Denver
35,971 79.3%
DEN → ORD
Chicago
35,925 76.8%

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025) On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights. PlainFlights is not affiliated with BTS or the DOT

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. This tool queries live on-time, delay, and cancellation figures for the two selected airports from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.