RDU to ORD flight delays
Raleigh/Durham, NC (RDU) Chicago, IL (ORD) · 646 miles
3,589 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
74.38%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
2.42%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
93 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
25 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. American Airlines arrived on time 24.5 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.
Flights from Raleigh/Durham to Chicago run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, American Airlines arrived on time most often on RDU to ORD. Frontier Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in September and worst in July.
Every airline on RDU to ORD
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 | 1,295 | 76.27% | 1.16% | 87 min | C |
| Republic Airways | 1,018 | 70.68% | 3.63% | 75 min | D |
| American Airlines | 553 | 82.18% | 3.44% | 145 min | C |
| Envoy Air | 523 | 72.3% | 1.72% | 86 min | D |
| Frontier Airlines | 131 | 57.72% | 5.34% | 139 min | F |
| SkyWest Airlines | 67 | 77.27% | 0% | 138 min | — |
| PSA Airlines | 2 | 50% | 0% | 31 min | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
ORD to RDU Chicago back to Raleigh/Durham 73.28% on time DOther routes from Raleigh/Durham
Common questions
Are flights from Raleigh/Durham to Chicago usually delayed?
74.38% of flights on the RDU to ORD route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Raleigh/Durham to Chicago?
American Airlines, at 82.18% on time across 553 flights. The least punctual on the route was Frontier Airlines at 57.72%.
How often are RDU to ORD flights cancelled?
2.42% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 24 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Raleigh/Durham to Chicago?
September, when 82.7% of flights arrived on time. The worst was July at 65.2%.
When RDU to ORD flights are late, how late are they?
About 93 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 RDU to ORD 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 →