ORD to TPA flight delays
Chicago, IL (ORD) Tampa, FL (TPA) · 1,012 miles
3,217 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
73.03%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.46%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
80 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
22 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. United Airlines arrived on time 11.7 points more often than Frontier Airlines over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The season swings this route hard. In September it ran 19.2 points more punctual than in March — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
Flights from Chicago to Tampa run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, United Airlines arrived on time most often on ORD to TPA. Frontier Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in September and worst in March.
Every airline on ORD to TPA
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 1,403 | 78.41% | 0.5% | 71 min | C |
| American Airlines | 1,141 | 68.04% | 1.93% | 70 min | D |
| Spirit Airlines | 283 | 71.27% | 2.83% | 97 min | D |
| Southwest Airlines | 214 | 71.23% | 0.93% | 91 min | D |
| Frontier Airlines | 173 | 66.67% | 4.62% | 153 min | F |
| Envoy Air | 2 | 50% | 0% | 16 min | — |
| Republic Airways | 1 | 100% | 0% | — | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
TPA to ORD Tampa back to Chicago 72.8% on time DOther routes from Chicago
Common questions
Are flights from Chicago to Tampa usually delayed?
73.03% of flights on the ORD to TPA route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Chicago to Tampa?
United Airlines, at 78.41% on time across 1,403 flights. The least punctual on the route was Frontier Airlines at 66.67%.
How often are ORD to TPA flights cancelled?
1.46% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 15 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Chicago to Tampa?
September, when 82% of flights arrived on time. The worst was March at 62.8%.
When ORD to TPA flights are late, how late are they?
About 80 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on ORD to TPA during January 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →