Bloomington/Normal to Chicago

What the Data Says About BMI to ORD

The Bloomington/Normal to Chicago corridor (BMI → ORD) covers roughly 116 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 2,193 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 87.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 74.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,548 flights were recorded on this pairing — 38 cancelled (2.5%) and 1 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 1 carrier on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 2,193 total flights analyzed, the 87.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 74.1-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Jun 2022 posted the best performance on this corridor at 98% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 65% on-time — a 34-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BMI to ORD route, the combination of a 87.7% on-time rate, 74.1-minute average delay, 2.5% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.