Route · IAH → ORD · 2020–2025 BTS data
Houston to Chicago
According to PlainFlights' route traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), IAH to ORD (Houston to Chicago) ranks #162 of 4927 tracked domestic routes by total flights (most flights = #1).
Data updated 2026-06-13
- 81%
- On-time
- +2 pts
- vs US avg
- 82 min
- Delay when late
- 27,946
- Flights
- #162 of 4927
- Corpus placement
Cancelled
1.5%
Best Month
Feb 2024 89%
Worst Month
May 2024 58%
Distance
925 mi
Carriers
42
Monthly Performance
Recent 24 months of route data.
| Period | Flights | Delayed | Cancelled | Diverted | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | 512 | 128 | 3 | 1 | YX,F9,NK,AA,MQ,UA |
| Nov 2025 | 466 | 142 | 17 | 0 | UA,F9,MQ,NK,AA,YX |
| Oct 2025 | 517 | 107 | 3 | 0 | AA,UA,YX,F9,MQ,NK |
| Sep 2025 | 531 | 75 | 1 | 0 | MQ,UA,NK,YX,F9,AA |
| Aug 2025 | 535 | 139 | 11 | 2 | AA,YX,F9,MQ,NK,OH,UA |
| Jul 2025 | 514 | 168 | 8 | 4 | AA,NK,UA,YX,F9,MQ |
| Jun 2025 | 508 | 161 | 9 | 1 | AA,UA,YX,F9,MQ,NK |
| May 2025 | 504 | 120 | 5 | 0 | AA,NK,OO,UA,F9 |
| Apr 2025 | 433 | 77 | 3 | 0 | F9,NK,UA,YX,AA |
| Mar 2025 | 460 | 87 | 4 | 3 | AA,UA,NK,YX,F9 |
| Feb 2025 | 390 | 66 | 2 | 0 | AA,UA,YX,F9,MQ,NK |
| Jan 2025 | 457 | 66 | 22 | 2 | AA,UA,NK,YX,F9,MQ |
| Dec 2024 | 476 | 121 | 1 | 0 | AA,F9,MQ,NK,UA,YX |
| Nov 2024 | 454 | 59 | 0 | 0 | UA,MQ,NK,YX,F9,AA |
| Oct 2024 | 473 | 53 | 0 | 0 | UA,NK,F9,AA |
| Sep 2024 | 473 | 60 | 1 | 0 | NK,UA,AA,F9 |
| Aug 2024 | 502 | 121 | 4 | 2 | AA,F9,NK,UA |
| Jul 2024 | 495 | 187 | 35 | 1 | AA,F9,NK,UA |
| Jun 2024 | 489 | 146 | 4 | 1 | AA,F9,MQ,NK,UA |
| May 2024 | 489 | 204 | 7 | 5 | AA,F9,MQ,NK,UA |
| Apr 2024 | 428 | 84 | 2 | 1 | AA,MQ,NK,UA |
| Mar 2024 | 371 | 83 | 0 | 1 | AA,MQ,NK,UA |
| Feb 2024 | 313 | 33 | 0 | 1 | AA,MQ,NK,UA |
| Jan 2024 | 359 | 99 | 26 | 1 | AA,MQ,YX,NK,UA |
IAH–ORD seasonal on-time pattern
Best: September (86.9%) · weakest: July (73.4%)
Strongest calendar month
September
86.9% on-time · ~400 flights/mo
Busiest calendar month
August
~418 flights/mo avg
Weakest calendar month
July
73.4% on-time · ~414 flights/mo
Cancellation Rate
1.5%
168 of 11,149 flights
Diversion Rate
0.2%
26 of 11,149 flights
Explore origin & destination
On-time and delay data for the airports this route connects.
IAH - Houston
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for Houston, TX.
IAH on-time profileORD - Chicago
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for Chicago, IL.
ORD on-time profileCompare the two airports
See IAH and ORD side by side on delays, cancellations, and reliability.
Compare IAH vs ORDOrigin-hub reliability standing
Mid-pack among IAH departures
From IAH, this corridor sits with 79 other 75–85% on-time routes out of 102 tracked departures, not the hub's reliability leaders (17 at ≥85%) and not the softest ( 6 below 75%). Destination: Chicago · fleet on-time rank #2744 of 4927.
Similar routes
Other BTS-tracked routes with comparable performance or trip length to IAH–ORD.
Routes with a similar on-time rate
What the Data Says About IAH to ORD
27,946 tracked flights put the IAH to ORD pairing (Houston to Chicago) at a 81% on-time rate, squarely in line with the wider network. Delays that do occur run 82.0 minutes on average. Across the 925-mile route and its 42 carriers, the trailing 24 months show 1.5% cancelled and 0.2% diverted (11,149 flights sampled).
The monthly split is wide on this route: Feb 2024 posted the strongest performance at 89% on-time, while May 2024 came in at just 58% - a 31-point swing worth factoring into travel timing.
On the multi-year calendar, IAH–ORD peaks in September at 86.9% on-time while August carries the heaviest traffic (~418 flights per month) ; the softest month is July at 73.4%, a 13.5-point swing that repeats because the corridor's weather and holiday mix stays stable year to year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does IAH to ORD rank among US routes by traffic? ▼
How often are flights delayed from IAH to ORD? ▼
What is the cancellation rate for IAH to ORD? ▼
How far is the flight from IAH to ORD? ▼
When is the best time to fly from IAH 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 IAH–ORD data
IAH–ORD is mid-pack at 81% on-time; month and carrier mix move more than the corridor headline.
- Compare IAH and ORD airport profiles: delay causes and top routes differ even on the same corridor. IAH airport
- If your dates flex, September (86.9% on-time) beats July (73.4%) on this corridor. Seasonal chart
- 4 other routes post a similar 81% 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.