Chicago to Missoula

What the Data Says About ORD to MSO

The Chicago to Missoula corridor (ORD → MSO) covers roughly 1,332 miles and is served by 7 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,131 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 64.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,131 flights were recorded on this pairing — 2 cancelled (0.2%) and 2 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 7 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,131 total flights analyzed, the 82.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 64.3-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, Jun 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Jul 2023 came in at 65% on-time — a 29-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to MSO route, the combination of a 82.5% on-time rate, 64.3-minute average delay, 0.2% recent cancellation rate, and 7 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.