Chicago to Raleigh/Durham

What the Data Says About ORD to RDU

The Chicago to Raleigh/Durham corridor (ORD → RDU) covers roughly 646 miles and is served by 42 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 15,273 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 74.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 6,448 flights were recorded on this pairing — 66 cancelled (1.0%) and 14 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 42 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 15,273 total flights analyzed, the 80.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 74.8-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 65% on-time — a 23-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to RDU route, the combination of a 80.3% on-time rate, 74.8-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 42 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.