San Antonio to Chicago

What the Data Says About SAT to ORD

The San Antonio to Chicago corridor (SAT → ORD) covers roughly 1,041 miles and is served by 39 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 8,399 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 95.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,255 flights were recorded on this pairing — 50 cancelled (1.5%) and 16 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 39 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 8,399 total flights analyzed, the 86.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 95.0-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, Mar 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 70% on-time — a 24-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SAT to ORD route, the combination of a 86.4% on-time rate, 95.0-minute average delay, 1.5% recent cancellation rate, and 39 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.