Rochester to Chicago

What the Data Says About RST to ORD

The Rochester to Chicago corridor (RST → ORD) covers roughly 268 miles and is served by 8 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 4,388 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 89.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,726 flights were recorded on this pairing — 43 cancelled (2.5%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 8 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 4,388 total flights analyzed, the 82.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 89.3-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 88% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 50% on-time — a 38-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the RST to ORD route, the combination of a 82.8% on-time rate, 89.3-minute average delay, 2.5% recent cancellation rate, and 8 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.