Chattanooga to Chicago

What the Data Says About CHA to ORD

The Chattanooga to Chicago corridor (CHA → ORD) covers roughly 501 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 3,031 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 94.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,052 flights were recorded on this pairing — 35 cancelled (1.7%) and 3 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 3,031 total flights analyzed, the 77.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 94.9-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, Dec 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 91% on-time, while Jan 2025 came in at 62% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CHA to ORD route, the combination of a 77.8% on-time rate, 94.9-minute average delay, 1.7% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.