Chicago to New Orleans

What the Data Says About ORD to MSY

The Chicago to New Orleans corridor (ORD → MSY) covers roughly 837 miles and is served by 50 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 10,053 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 71.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,953 flights were recorded on this pairing — 52 cancelled (1.3%) and 12 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 50 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 10,053 total flights analyzed, the 80.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 71.8-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, Sep 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 62% on-time — a 26-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to MSY route, the combination of a 80.3% on-time rate, 71.8-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 50 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.