Chicago to Paducah

What the Data Says About ORD to PAH

The Chicago to Paducah corridor (ORD → PAH) covers roughly 342 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,924 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 85.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,319 flights were recorded on this pairing — 55 cancelled (4.2%) and 2 diverted (0.2%). 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 1,924 total flights analyzed, the 85.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.5-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 2020 posted the best performance on this corridor at 97% on-time, while Jun 2021 came in at 60% on-time — a 37-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to PAH route, the combination of a 85.9% on-time rate, 80.5-minute average delay, 4.2% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.