Madison to Chicago

What the Data Says About MSN to ORD

The Madison to Chicago corridor (MSN → ORD) covers roughly 108 miles and is served by 33 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 12,602 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 83.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,596 flights were recorded on this pairing — 125 cancelled (2.2%) and 5 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 33 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 12,602 total flights analyzed, the 80.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 83.8-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 91% on-time, while Dec 2024 came in at 61% on-time — a 30-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MSN to ORD route, the combination of a 80.7% on-time rate, 83.8-minute average delay, 2.2% recent cancellation rate, and 33 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.