Chicago O'Hare International in January 2026

67.9%departed on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report.

In January 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 25,131 domestic departures from Chicago O'Hare International (ORD). 67.9% left less than 15 minutes late and 64.7% reached their destination on time; 3.7% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 75.6% of flights departed on time and 75.3% arrived on time, so ORD departures were 7.7 points below the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in January 2025, the airport had 21,643 departures with 78.9% leaving on time: a change of −11.0 points, with flights up 16%.

Flights arriving at ORD that month were on time 67.9% of the time (25,119 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 33%, air carrier 28% and national aviation system 22%.

On time 64.7%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 31.3%
Cancelled 3.7%
Diverted 0.3%

Every scheduled departure from ORD in January 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

January 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Jan 2026	Jan 2025	ORD, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Jan 2026
Departed on time	67.9%	78.9%	71.4%	75.6%
Arrived on time	64.7%	77.2%	69.4%	75.3%
Cancelled	3.7%	1.8%	2.8%	4.7%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	24.8 min	14.8 min	22.3 min	16.7 min
Scheduled departures a day	838	721	986	18,133
Scheduled departures	25,131	21,643	359,911	544,003

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
UA United Airlines	7,205	29%	70.0%	12.2 min	1.9%
OO SkyWest Airlines	5,262	21%	55.2%	35.2 min	4.4%
MQ Envoy Air	4,017	16%	65.5%	14.5 min	2.8%
AA American Airlines	3,362	13%	64.6%	17.5 min	5.5%
YX Republic Airline	3,102	12%	69.5%	6.8 min	5.1%
DL Delta Air Lines	562	2%	69.4%	12.3 min	3.2%
NK Spirit Airlines	463	2%	53.6%	23.3 min	8.9%
OH PSA Airlines	350	1%	46.9%	51.8 min	11.4%
F9 Frontier Airlines	295	1%	63.7%	24.8 min	1.7%
WN Southwest Airlines	257	1%	72.8%	8.2 min	1.2%
AS Alaska Airlines	194	1%	69.1%	12.3 min	1.5%
B6 JetBlue Airways	62	0%	69.4%	6.4 min	4.8%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
ORD–LGA	Chicago to New York	955	66.7%	9.4 min	7.2%
ORD–DCA	Chicago to Washington	592	64.0%	18.2 min	6.3%
ORD–MCO	Chicago to Orlando	540	67.6%	13.8 min	2.4%
ORD–BOS	Chicago to Boston	500	64.6%	15.9 min	6.4%
ORD–DFW	Chicago to Dallas/Fort Worth	500	63.2%	16.9 min	8.2%
ORD–EWR	Chicago to Newark	479	69.7%	10.4 min	5.6%
ORD–IAH	Chicago to Houston	468	77.8%	1.5 min	1.7%
ORD–LAX	Chicago to Los Angeles	463	69.8%	7.1 min	1.1%
ORD–MSP	Chicago to Minneapolis	451	64.7%	22.4 min	1.3%
ORD–PHX	Chicago to Phoenix	446	73.5%	8.1 min	1.8%
ORD–ATL	Chicago to Atlanta	444	71.6%	7.1 min	2.3%
ORD–MIA	Chicago to Miami	412	66.7%	13.2 min	4.1%

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), January 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Jan 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	28.1%	37.3%	175,932
Late-arriving aircraft	33.4%	35.0%	208,980
National Aviation System	22.1%	18.0%	138,385
Extreme weather	16.2%	9.6%	101,352
Security	0.1%	0.1%	334

624,983 delay minutes on 7,868 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left ORD on time in January 2026?

67.9% of 25,131 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 64.7% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 75.6% and 75.3%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In January 2025, 78.9% of 21,643 departures left on time and 1.8% were cancelled, against 67.9% and 3.7% in January 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for January 2026; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for ORD · methodology · corrections.