Chicago to South Bend

What the Data Says About ORD to SBN

The Chicago to South Bend corridor (ORD → SBN) covers roughly 84 miles and is served by 11 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,392 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 76.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 90.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,365 flights were recorded on this pairing — 111 cancelled (2.5%) and 8 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 11 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,392 total flights analyzed, the 76.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 90.9-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 85% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 51% on-time — a 34-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to SBN route, the combination of a 76.6% on-time rate, 90.9-minute average delay, 2.5% recent cancellation rate, and 11 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.