Wilmington to Chicago

What the Data Says About ILM to ORD

The Wilmington to Chicago corridor (ILM → ORD) covers roughly 760 miles and is served by 8 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 779 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 75% on-time rate with an average delay of 79.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 779 flights were recorded on this pairing — 14 cancelled (1.8%) and 2 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 8 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 779 total flights analyzed, the 75% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 79.2-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, Aug 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 69% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 50% on-time — a 18-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ILM to ORD route, the combination of a 75% on-time rate, 79.2-minute average delay, 1.8% recent cancellation rate, and 8 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.