Chicago to Mason City

What the Data Says About ORD to MCW

The Chicago to Mason City corridor (ORD → MCW) covers roughly 288 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,995 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,082 flights were recorded on this pairing — 40 cancelled (3.7%) and 18 diverted (1.7%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 1 carrier on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,995 total flights analyzed, the 83.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.6-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 91% on-time, while Mar 2025 came in at 72% on-time — a 19-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to MCW route, the combination of a 83.3% on-time rate, 85.6-minute average delay, 3.7% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.