Chicago to Dallas/Fort Worth

What the Data Says About ORD to DFW

The Chicago to Dallas/Fort Worth corridor (ORD → DFW) covers roughly 802 miles and is served by 48 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 34,728 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 13,236 flights were recorded on this pairing — 246 cancelled (1.9%) and 74 diverted (0.6%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 48 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 34,728 total flights analyzed, the 77.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.9-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 56% on-time — a 32-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to DFW route, the combination of a 77.7% on-time rate, 80.9-minute average delay, 1.9% recent cancellation rate, and 48 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.