South Bend to Chicago

What the Data Says About SBN to ORD

The South Bend to Chicago corridor (SBN → ORD) covers roughly 84 miles and is served by 10 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,390 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 94.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,364 flights were recorded on this pairing — 103 cancelled (2.4%) and 3 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 10 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,390 total flights analyzed, the 79.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 94.1-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 91% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 54% on-time — a 37-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SBN to ORD route, the combination of a 79.6% on-time rate, 94.1-minute average delay, 2.4% recent cancellation rate, and 10 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.