State College to Chicago

What the Data Says About SCE to ORD

The State College to Chicago corridor (SCE → ORD) covers roughly 528 miles and is served by 7 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 2,284 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 92.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,454 flights were recorded on this pairing — 16 cancelled (1.1%) and 8 diverted (0.6%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 7 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 2,284 total flights analyzed, the 81.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 92.7-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 92% on-time, while Oct 2023 came in at 69% on-time — a 23-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SCE to ORD route, the combination of a 81.3% on-time rate, 92.7-minute average delay, 1.1% recent cancellation rate, and 7 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.