Tulsa to Chicago

What the Data Says About TUL to ORD

The Tulsa to Chicago corridor (TUL → ORD) covers roughly 585 miles and is served by 22 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 8,105 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 95.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,508 flights were recorded on this pairing — 43 cancelled (1.2%) and 4 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 22 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 8,105 total flights analyzed, the 83.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 95.8-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 93% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 63% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the TUL to ORD route, the combination of a 83.6% on-time rate, 95.8-minute average delay, 1.2% recent cancellation rate, and 22 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.