Cleveland to Chicago

What the Data Says About CLE to ORD

The Cleveland to Chicago corridor (CLE → ORD) covers roughly 316 miles and is served by 36 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 18,867 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 84.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 90.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 7,466 flights were recorded on this pairing — 152 cancelled (2.0%) and 8 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 36 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 18,867 total flights analyzed, the 84.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 90.7-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 96% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 68% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CLE to ORD route, the combination of a 84.8% on-time rate, 90.7-minute average delay, 2.0% recent cancellation rate, and 36 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.