Chicago to Albany

What the Data Says About MDW to ALB

The Chicago to Albany corridor (MDW → ALB) covers roughly 717 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 3,764 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 72.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 56.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,393 flights were recorded on this pairing — 5 cancelled (0.4%) and 5 diverted (0.4%). 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 3,764 total flights analyzed, the 72.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 56.9-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, Nov 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 57% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MDW to ALB route, the combination of a 72.7% on-time rate, 56.9-minute average delay, 0.4% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.