Route · COU → ORD · 2020–2025 BTS data
Columbia to Chicago
According to PlainFlights' route traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), COU to ORD (Columbia to Chicago) ranks #3015 of 4927 tracked domestic routes by total flights (most flights = #1).
Data updated 2026-06-13
- 80%
- On-time
- +1 pts
- vs US avg
- 96 min
- Delay when late
- 3,737
- Flights
- #3015 of 4927
- Corpus placement
Cancelled
2.8%
Best Month
May 2025 95%
Worst Month
Jul 2024 57%
Distance
315 mi
Carriers
4
Monthly Performance
Recent 24 months of route data.
| Period | Flights | Delayed | Cancelled | Diverted | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | 205 | 80 | 9 | 0 | MQ,OO |
| Nov 2025 | 167 | 36 | 13 | 1 | OO,MQ |
| Oct 2025 | 179 | 47 | 0 | 0 | OO,MQ |
| Sep 2025 | 107 | 26 | 1 | 0 | MQ,OO |
| Aug 2025 | 77 | 22 | 3 | 0 | MQ |
| Jul 2025 | 82 | 26 | 1 | 0 | MQ |
| Jun 2025 | 83 | 21 | 1 | 0 | MQ |
| May 2025 | 91 | 5 | 1 | 0 | MQ |
| Apr 2025 | 78 | 14 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Mar 2025 | 59 | 13 | 4 | 0 | MQ |
| Feb 2025 | 56 | 14 | 6 | 0 | MQ |
| Jan 2025 | 57 | 16 | 4 | 0 | MQ |
| Dec 2024 | 45 | 13 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Nov 2024 | 34 | 8 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Oct 2024 | 56 | 10 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Sep 2024 | 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Aug 2024 | 61 | 13 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Jul 2024 | 61 | 26 | 1 | 0 | MQ |
| Jun 2024 | 60 | 25 | 1 | 0 | MQ |
| May 2024 | 56 | 17 | 1 | 1 | MQ |
| Apr 2024 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Mar 2024 | 62 | 8 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Feb 2024 | 43 | 6 | 0 | 0 | MQ |
| Jan 2024 | 38 | 12 | 5 | 0 | MQ |
COU–ORD seasonal on-time pattern
Best: May (89.1%) · weakest: December (70.0%)
Strongest calendar month
May
89.1% on-time · ~64 flights/mo
Busiest calendar month
December
~81 flights/mo avg
Weakest calendar month
December
70.0% on-time · ~81 flights/mo
Cancellation Rate
2.8%
51 of 1,824 flights
Diversion Rate
0.1%
2 of 1,824 flights
Explore origin & destination
On-time and delay data for the airports this route connects.
COU - Columbia
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for Columbia, MO.
COU on-time profileORD - Chicago
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for Chicago, IL.
ORD on-time profileCompare the two airports
See COU and ORD side by side on delays, cancellations, and reliability.
Compare COU vs ORDOrigin-hub reliability standing
Mid-pack among COU departures
From COU, this corridor sits with 2 other 75–85% on-time routes out of 2 tracked departures, not the hub's reliability leaders (0 at ≥85%) and not the softest ( 0 below 75%). Destination: Chicago · fleet on-time rank #3134 of 4927.
Similar routes
Other BTS-tracked routes with comparable performance or trip length to COU–ORD.
Routes with a similar on-time rate
What the Data Says About COU to ORD
3,737 tracked flights put the COU to ORD pairing (Columbia to Chicago) at a 80% on-time rate, squarely in line with the wider network. Delays that do occur run 95.9 minutes on average. Across the 315-mile route and its 4 carriers, the trailing 24 months show 2.8% cancelled and 0.1% diverted (1,824 flights sampled).
The monthly split is wide on this route: May 2025 posted the strongest performance at 95% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at just 57% - a 37-point swing worth factoring into travel timing.
On the multi-year calendar, COU–ORD peaks in May at 89.1% on-time while December carries the heaviest traffic (~81 flights per month) ; the softest month is December at 70.0%, a 19.1-point swing that repeats because the corridor's weather and holiday mix stays stable year to year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does COU to ORD rank among US routes by traffic? ▼
How often are flights delayed from COU to ORD? ▼
What is the cancellation rate for COU to ORD? ▼
How far is the flight from COU to ORD? ▼
When is the best time to fly from COU to ORD? ▼
Airports on this route
Data source
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data. Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Using COU–ORD data
COU–ORD is mid-pack at 80% on-time; month and carrier mix move more than the corridor headline.
- Compare COU and ORD airport profiles: delay causes and top routes differ even on the same corridor. COU airport
- If your dates flex, May (89.1% on-time) beats December (70.0%) on this corridor. Seasonal chart
- 4 other routes post a similar 80% on-time rate; compare before you commit to this pairing. Similar routes
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers on this origin–destination pair, not any single flight or booking recommendation.
Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates this specific route's on-time performance and monthly trend, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.