Chicago to Little Rock

What the Data Says About ORD to LIT

The Chicago to Little Rock corridor (ORD → LIT) covers roughly 552 miles and is served by 11 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,488 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77% on-time rate with an average delay of 64.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,686 flights were recorded on this pairing — 38 cancelled (1.4%) and 11 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 11 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,488 total flights analyzed, the 77% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 64.6-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, Dec 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 55% on-time — a 33-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to LIT route, the combination of a 77% on-time rate, 64.6-minute average delay, 1.4% recent cancellation rate, and 11 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.