Route profile
ORD→AUS
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to Austin, 977 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 31% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,628 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
ORD → AUS arrives on time 74.2% of the time; the return trip, AUS → ORD, arrives on time 77.9% of the time, a 3.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
ORD → AUS spends 31.8 minutes on the ground on a 977-mile trip: 23.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 8.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at AUS.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 98% of 4,023 comparable routes.
84.7% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 47.9% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where ORD to AUS differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ORD to AUS struggles most at 9 PM: 47.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 18.9 points behind the 66.0% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 22.4 points.
ORD to AUS is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 1 PM: 78.3% arrive on time, 2.3 points ahead of the 76.0% those routes manage at that hour.
Thursday is the day ORD to AUS slips furthest against routes of similar length, 72.0% on time where they average 76.1%, 4.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.8 points.
In January, ORD to AUS runs 11.6 points below routes of similar length, 66.1% on time to 77.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 13 points.
American Airlines’ flights on ORD to AUS arrive on time 69.3% of the time, 4.7 points below the 74.0% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 5.8 points.
ORD to AUS against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 47.1% | routes of similar length | 66.0% | −18.9 pts | 204 here, 87,055 there |
| Hour: 1 PM departures | 78.3% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | +2.3 pts | 1,495 here, 180,825 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 72.0% | routes of similar length | 76.1% | −4.1 pts | 1,446 here, 458,773 there |
| Month: January | 66.1% | routes of similar length | 77.7% | −11.6 pts | 613 here, 238,033 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 69.3% | routes of similar length | 74.0% | −4.7 pts | 3,344 here, 578,661 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 977 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why ORD → AUS flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
ORD → AUS cancelled 106 of 9,628 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 91. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 69.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 130 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 106 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.
74 cancellations, 69.8% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
21 cancellations, 19.8% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
11 cancellations, 10.4% 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.
106 coded cancellations were recorded on ORD → AUS; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
55 min late
against a median of 5 min early
ORD → AUS has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 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 9,628 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at AUS after arriving from ORD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 41% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.0% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.4% | 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 1.10% of the time and diverts 0.19% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,504 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 55 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,628 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ORD → AUS flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 84.7% of the time, against 47.9% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 36.8 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 87.5% on time from 728 flights
- 8 AM: 82.9% on time from 1,165 flights
- 9 AM: 80.5% on time from 871 flights
- 10 AM: 74.0% on time from 240 flights
- 11 AM: 76.1% on time from 353 flights
- 12 PM: 78.5% on time from 427 flights
- 1 PM: 78.3% on time from 1,510 flights
- 2 PM: 68.1% on time from 599 flights
- 3 PM: 63.6% on time from 252 flights
- 4 PM: 71.8% on time from 504 flights
- 5 PM: 67.0% on time from 346 flights
- 6 PM: 66.3% on time from 325 flights
- 7 PM: 66.8% on time from 1,067 flights
- 8 PM: 66.2% on time from 1,014 flights
- 9 PM: 47.1% on time from 215 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why ORD → AUS runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow 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 ORD → AUS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on ORD → AUS, at 48.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 84.7% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 47.9%.
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 | 4,153 | 78.4% | 0.77% | -6 min | 7.0% |
| American Airlines | 3,403 | 69.3% | 1.56% | -4 min | 13.0% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,121 | 72.3% | 0.45% | 0 min | 7.7% |
| Envoy Air | 627 | 79.2% | 0.80% | -10 min | 4.5% |
United Airlines flew 44.6% of the 9,304 flights listed. American Airlines cancelled 1.56% of its flights here against 0.45% for Southwest Airlines.
Envoy Air arrived on time 9.9 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 66.1%
- Feb: 83.2%
- Mar: 73.0%
- Apr: 71.7%
- May: 66.2%
- Jun: 70.3%
- Jul: 65.4%
- Aug: 75.5%
- Sep: 82.5%
- Oct: 81.7%
- Nov: 80.6%
- Dec: 77.8%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 17.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 68.1% from 280 flights
- August 2023: 76.7% from 298 flights
- September 2023: 82.1% from 280 flights
- October 2023: 78.0% from 309 flights
- November 2023: 83.9% from 274 flights
- December 2023: 82.5% from 269 flights
- January 2024: 54.1% from 226 flights
- February 2024: 87.8% from 205 flights
- March 2024: 73.2% from 251 flights
- April 2024: 74.0% from 262 flights
- May 2024: 60.1% from 277 flights
- June 2024: 70.0% from 259 flights
- July 2024: 66.1% from 262 flights
- August 2024: 74.1% from 266 flights
- September 2024: 85.3% from 252 flights
- October 2024: 92.2% from 268 flights
- November 2024: 80.8% from 239 flights
- December 2024: 82.1% from 235 flights
- January 2025: 75.4% from 204 flights
- February 2025: 75.3% from 194 flights
- March 2025: 79.7% from 264 flights
- April 2025: 72.0% from 263 flights
- May 2025: 66.3% from 277 flights
- June 2025: 73.2% from 272 flights
- July 2025: 58.1% from 268 flights
- August 2025: 75.7% from 266 flights
- September 2025: 80.2% from 258 flights
- October 2025: 76.2% from 299 flights
- November 2025: 76.7% from 255 flights
- December 2025: 68.2% from 237 flights
- January 2026: 69.9% from 207 flights
- February 2026: 85.9% from 213 flights
- March 2026: 66.8% from 302 flights
- April 2026: 69.4% from 295 flights
- May 2026: 71.5% from 300 flights
- June 2026: 67.5% from 269 flights
- July 2026: 68.8% from 273 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 72.8% against 76.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,628 ORD → AUS 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