Chicago to Albany

What the Data Says About ORD to ALB

The Chicago to Albany corridor (ORD → ALB) covers roughly 723 miles and is served by 28 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 7,283 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 65.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,088 flights were recorded on this pairing — 31 cancelled (1.0%) and 5 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 28 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 7,283 total flights analyzed, the 80.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 65.9-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 87% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 60% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to ALB route, the combination of a 80.4% on-time rate, 65.9-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 28 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.