Little Rock to Chicago

What the Data Says About LIT to ORD

The Little Rock to Chicago corridor (LIT → ORD) covers roughly 552 miles and is served by 11 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,506 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,685 flights were recorded on this pairing — 36 cancelled (1.3%) and 8 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 11 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,506 total flights analyzed, the 77.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.1-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, Dec 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 90% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 55% on-time — a 35-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the LIT to ORD route, the combination of a 77.5% on-time rate, 85.1-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 11 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.