Chicago to Dayton

What the Data Says About ORD to DAY

The Chicago to Dayton corridor (ORD → DAY) covers roughly 240 miles and is served by 16 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,361 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.1% on-time rate with an average delay of 91.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,846 flights were recorded on this pairing — 64 cancelled (2.2%) and 3 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 16 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,361 total flights analyzed, the 79.1% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 91.4-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, Mar 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 57% on-time — a 36-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to DAY route, the combination of a 79.1% on-time rate, 91.4-minute average delay, 2.2% recent cancellation rate, and 16 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.