Chicago to Hartford

What the Data Says About ORD to BDL

The Chicago to Hartford corridor (ORD → BDL) covers roughly 783 miles and is served by 41 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 11,489 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 73.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,345 flights were recorded on this pairing — 46 cancelled (1.1%) and 2 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 41 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 11,489 total flights analyzed, the 80.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 73.0-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, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 62% on-time — a 27-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to BDL route, the combination of a 80.7% on-time rate, 73.0-minute average delay, 1.1% recent cancellation rate, and 41 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.