Decatur to Chicago

What the Data Says About DEC to ORD

The Decatur to Chicago corridor (DEC → ORD) covers roughly 156 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 3,543 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 137.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,255 flights were recorded on this pairing — 26 cancelled (2.1%) and 3 diverted (0.2%). 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 3,543 total flights analyzed, the 83.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 137.5-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Oct 2025 came in at 61% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DEC to ORD route, the combination of a 83.4% on-time rate, 137.5-minute average delay, 2.1% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.