Chicago to Springfield

What the Data Says About ORD to SPI

The Chicago to Springfield corridor (ORD → SPI) covers roughly 174 miles and is served by 4 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 971 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 90.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 971 flights were recorded on this pairing — 47 cancelled (4.8%) and 2 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 4 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 971 total flights analyzed, the 81.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 90.3-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, Aug 2020 posted the best performance on this corridor at 97% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 68% on-time — a 29-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to SPI route, the combination of a 81.6% on-time rate, 90.3-minute average delay, 4.8% recent cancellation rate, and 4 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.