Route profile
LGA→ORD
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from New York to Chicago, 733 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 5% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 33,927 flights. How this is calculated
LGA → ORD arrives on time 75.0% of the time; the return trip, ORD → LGA, arrives on time 73.4% of the time.
LGA → ORD spends 42.7 minutes on the ground on a 733-mile trip: 24.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LGA and 18.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at ORD.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 95% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth run 76 minutes worse than that.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,598 in the comparison.
Why LGA → ORD flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
LGA → ORD cancelled 1,151 of 33,927 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 29. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 64.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 46 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 1,151 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
745 cancellations, 64.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
243 cancellations, 21.1% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
163 cancellations, 14.2% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
1,151 coded cancellations were recorded on LGA → ORD; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
69 min late
against a median of 7 min early
LGA → ORD has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth are 76 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 33,927 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at ORD after arriving from LGA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 38% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 18% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.7% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 3.39% of the time and diverts 0.27% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 32,683 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 69 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 33,927 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LGA → ORD flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.4% of the time, against 63.2% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 24.2 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (LGA).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 10.8 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.2 points.
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
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| 9 PM–10 PM |
On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 40–49
- 50–59
- 60–69
- 70–79
- 80–89
- 90–99
- Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.
No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 6 AM (173 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 90.9% on time458 flights | 91.6% on time456 flights | 92.5% on time460 flights | 92.8% on time449 flights | 90.8% on time445 flights | 91.1% on time263 flights | 90.6% on time273 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 85.4% on time437 flights | 85.1% on time438 flights | 85.7% on time441 flights | 85.0% on time442 flights | 82.6% on time441 flights | 84.0% on time342 flights | 81.9% on time346 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 86.8% on time356 flights | 86.0% on time360 flights | 86.3% on time359 flights | 88.4% on time360 flights | 84.4% on time360 flights | 85.5% on time256 flights | 81.3% on time325 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 84.0% on time343 flights | 81.4% on time335 flights | 85.5% on time339 flights | 86.9% on time335 flights | 84.5% on time336 flights | 82.0% on time204 flights | 84.7% on time334 flights |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 87.5% on time247 flights | 87.3% on time251 flights | 83.7% on time247 flights | 85.0% on time242 flights | 85.7% on time244 flights | 79.1% on time236 flights | 83.1% on time234 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 78.2% on time258 flights | 80.0% on time254 flights | 81.0% on time253 flights | 80.9% on time258 flights | 82.8% on time257 flights | 73.6% on time151 flights | 75.8% on time246 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 77.5% on time238 flights | 81.5% on time238 flights | 75.5% on time236 flights | 80.4% on time232 flights | 77.3% on time237 flights | 80.6% on time175 flights | 69.6% on time209 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 81.9% on time182 flights | 77.8% on time180 flights | 81.4% on time179 flights | 85.5% on time176 flights | 78.8% on time179 flights | 85.0% on time128 flights | 72.7% on time180 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 73.2% on time422 flights | 77.5% on time423 flights | 71.4% on time420 flights | 77.7% on time412 flights | 70.9% on time419 flights | 75.0% on time274 flights | 68.6% on time428 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 76.3% on time197 flights | 73.5% on time196 flights | 75.0% on time195 flights | 77.8% on time190 flights | 72.3% on time195 flights | 78.7% on time178 flights | 72.5% on time197 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 59.4% on time434 flights | 65.8% on time433 flights | 60.8% on time434 flights | 62.9% on time427 flights | 61.1% on time429 flights | 73.7% on time204 flights | 60.0% on time429 flights |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 52.5% on time296 flights | 55.3% on time298 flights | 48.1% on time295 flights | 51.8% on time294 flights | 55.9% on time298 flights | 75.4% on time257 flights | 54.4% on time295 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 60.3% on time453 flights | 68.6% on time445 flights | 60.6% on time453 flights | 54.4% on time443 flights | 58.4% on time453 flights | 66.3% on time258 flights | 55.5% on time453 flights |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 60.8% on time276 flights | 67.7% on time278 flights | 63.3% on time271 flights | 61.7% on time270 flights | 64.2% on time275 flights | 78.3% on time135 flights | 58.2% on time271 flights |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 63.4% on time404 flights | 69.6% on time406 flights | 72.2% on time400 flights | 63.4% on time394 flights | 65.6% on time400 flights | 88 flights, too few to score | 65.8% on time399 flights |
| 9 PM–10 PM | 75.4% on time179 flights | 80.6% on time176 flights | 76.9% on time176 flights | 67.3% on time174 flights | 71.0% on time177 flights | 62 flights, too few to score | 75.3% on time176 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 95.3% on time from 173 flights
- 6 AM: 91.5% on time from 2,804 flights
- 7 AM: 84.3% on time from 2,887 flights
- 8 AM: 85.6% on time from 2,376 flights
- 9 AM: 84.3% on time from 2,226 flights
- 10 AM: 84.5% on time from 1,701 flights
- 11 AM: 79.3% on time from 1,677 flights
- 12 PM: 77.5% on time from 1,565 flights
- 1 PM: 80.3% on time from 1,204 flights
- 2 PM: 73.4% on time from 2,798 flights
- 3 PM: 75.1% on time from 1,348 flights
- 4 PM: 62.6% on time from 2,790 flights
- 5 PM: 55.9% on time from 2,033 flights
- 6 PM: 60.2% on time from 2,958 flights
- 7 PM: 63.9% on time from 1,776 flights
- 8 PM: 67.3% on time from 2,491 flights
- 9 PM: 74.6% on time from 1,120 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why LGA → ORD runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for LGA → ORD. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on LGA → ORD, at 39.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 87.4% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 63.2%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of LGA to ORD: 4.1 times the normal rate at LGA and 5.5 times at ORD. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: LGA 9.0% against 2.2%, ORD 6.5% against 1.2%. Flights that did leave ORD in bad weather arrived on time 55.7% of the time, against 77.1% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | LGA | ORD |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 9.0% | 6.5% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 2.2% | 1.2% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 63.6% | 55.7% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 80.9% | 77.1% |
| Departures in bad weather | 56,339 | 104,455 |
Of the carriers on this route, United Airlines (5.2% cancelled against 9.5% for the other carriers at LGA) cancelled the fewest departures from LGA in bad weather and Republic Airways (12.4% cancelled against 8.3% for the other carriers at LGA) the most.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at LGA
All departures from LGA| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 3,159 | 5.2%below the others | 9.5% |
| Delta Air Lines | 10,841 | 6.5%below the others | 9.9% |
| American Airlines | 6,685 | 7.6%below the others | 9.3% |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,577 | 8.9%about level | 8.4% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 954 | 9.0%above the others | 6.7% |
| Republic Airways | 18,154 | 12.4%above the others | 8.3% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from LGA and ORD, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from LGA on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: LGA (airlines), ORD, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 13,750 | 75.9% | 2.94% | -6 min | 10.5% |
| American Airlines | 8,665 | 73.5% | 3.29% | -7 min | 12.0% |
| Delta Air Lines | 6,835 | 74.1% | 3.35% | -8 min | 13.1% |
| Republic Airways | 2,697 | 78.5% | 5.41% | -10 min | 7.2% |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,296 | 70.5% | 3.55% | -4 min | 14.2% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 684 | 77.1% | 5.99% | -11 min | 9.2% |
United Airlines flew 40.5% of the 33,927 flights listed. SkyWest Airlines cancelled 5.99% of its flights here against 2.94% for United Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 8.0 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly New York to Chicago
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA→ORD this route New York to Chicago | 33,927 | 75.0% | 3.39% | -7 min | 42 |
| EWR→ORD Newark to Chicago | 18,454 | 73.5% | 2.88% | -5 min | 44 |
Flying to ORD from the New York area? Compare LGA, EWR, JFK for ORD, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
UA2389 (6:10 AM) arrived on time 93.5% of the time, 7.0 points more often than UA1310 (10:25 AM) at 86.5%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.1%
- Feb: 81.5%
- Mar: 75.1%
- Apr: 76.4%
- May: 73.8%
- Jun: 68.8%
- Jul: 65.3%
- Aug: 72.3%
- Sep: 81.6%
- Oct: 76.4%
- Nov: 78.0%
- Dec: 75.1%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 16.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 66.3% from 769 flights
- August 2023: 76.9% from 809 flights
- September 2023: 78.0% from 771 flights
- October 2023: 89.7% from 785 flights
- November 2023: 88.8% from 798 flights
- December 2023: 87.5% from 724 flights
- January 2024: 76.6% from 789 flights
- February 2024: 91.1% from 810 flights
- March 2024: 87.3% from 897 flights
- April 2024: 84.9% from 946 flights
- May 2024: 72.3% from 987 flights
- June 2024: 72.0% from 937 flights
- July 2024: 68.9% from 984 flights
- August 2024: 67.0% from 967 flights
- September 2024: 89.0% from 931 flights
- October 2024: 87.2% from 954 flights
- November 2024: 87.9% from 904 flights
- December 2024: 80.8% from 865 flights
- January 2025: 83.7% from 919 flights
- February 2025: 74.4% from 873 flights
- March 2025: 80.5% from 963 flights
- April 2025: 74.3% from 964 flights
- May 2025: 75.1% from 983 flights
- June 2025: 66.5% from 976 flights
- July 2025: 59.2% from 1,011 flights
- August 2025: 73.6% from 973 flights
- September 2025: 77.4% from 972 flights
- October 2025: 55.8% from 1,025 flights
- November 2025: 59.1% from 976 flights
- December 2025: 59.1% from 910 flights
- January 2026: 76.5% from 951 flights
- February 2026: 79.7% from 883 flights
- March 2026: 56.6% from 996 flights
- April 2026: 70.0% from 963 flights
- May 2026: 74.0% from 997 flights
- June 2026: 68.0% from 968 flights
- July 2026: 67.3% from 997 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 68.0% against 76.9% in the 12 months before — declining by 8.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 33,927 LGA → ORD flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed