Route profile
ORD→BWI
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to Baltimore, 622 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 32% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,320 flights. How this is calculated
ORD → BWI arrives on time 75.9% of the time; the return trip, BWI → ORD, arrives on time 79.2% of the time, a 3.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
ORD → BWI spends 31.0 minutes on the ground on a 622-mile trip: 25.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 5.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at BWI.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
The airline matters unusually much on this route, a wider carrier-to-carrier gap than 92% of 2,692 comparable routes.
Southwest Airlines arrived on time 80.5% of the time, against 61.5% for American Airlines, flying the exact same route.
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 2,692 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where ORD to BWI differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ORD to BWI struggles most at 1 PM: 71.7% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 6.8 points behind the 78.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 5.4 points.
Wednesday is the day ORD to BWI slips furthest against routes of similar length, 76.0% on time where they average 81.3%, 5.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.8 points.
In January, ORD to BWI runs 7.4 points below routes of similar length, 72.1% on time to 79.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 7 points.
Southwest Airlines does better on ORD to BWI than on its routes of similar length: 80.5% on time here, 77.8% there, 2.7 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 3.1 points.
United Airlines’ flights on ORD to BWI arrive on time 76.0% of the time, 2.7 points below the 78.7% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 3.9 points.
ORD to BWI against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 1 PM departures | 71.7% | routes of similar length | 78.5% | −6.8 pts | 774 here, 124,646 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 76.0% | routes of similar length | 81.3% | −5.3 pts | 1,153 here, 286,232 there |
| Month: January | 72.1% | routes of similar length | 79.5% | −7.4 pts | 512 here, 149,102 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 80.5% | routes of similar length | 77.8% | +2.7 pts | 1,781 here, 503,458 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 76.0% | routes of similar length | 78.7% | −2.7 pts | 3,337 here, 212,934 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 622 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 → BWI flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
ORD → BWI cancelled 141 of 8,320 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 59. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 56.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 104 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 141 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.
80 cancellations, 56.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
39 cancellations, 27.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
22 cancellations, 15.6% 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.
141 coded cancellations were recorded on ORD → BWI; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
50 min late
against a median of 4 min early
Percentiles over 8,320 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BWI after arriving from ORD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 8.2% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.0% | Low 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 1.69% of the time and diverts 0.26% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,157 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 50 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,320 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ORD → BWI flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.0% of the time, against 62.1% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 25.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.5% on time from 592 flights
- 7 AM: 89.4% on time from 886 flights
- 8 AM: 82.4% on time from 777 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 87.2% on time from 461 flights
- 11 AM: 80.2% on time from 546 flights
- 12 PM: 83.1% on time from 146 flights
- 1 PM: 71.7% on time from 796 flights
- 2 PM: 71.5% on time from 748 flights
- 3 PM: 74.4% on time from 137 flights
- 4 PM: 72.1% on time from 351 flights
- 5 PM: 74.0% on time from 422 flights
- 6 PM: 61.9% on time from 1,547 flights
- 7 PM: 61.8% on time from 225 flights
- 8 PM: 72.0% on time from 359 flights
- 9 PM: 62.5% on time from 172 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why ORD → BWI 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 → BWI. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on ORD → BWI, at 46.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.0% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 62.1%.
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 | 3,383 | 76.0% | 1.15% | -4 min | 8.2% |
| Envoy Air | 1,855 | 77.4% | 2.37% | -5 min | 7.3% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,813 | 80.5% | 1.54% | -5 min | 5.8% |
| American Airlines | 561 | 61.5% | 0.18% | 3 min | 16.1% |
| Republic Airways | 438 | 73.1% | 4.79% | -8 min | 12.3% |
United Airlines flew 42.0% of the 8,050 flights listed. Republic Airways cancelled 4.79% of its flights here against 0.18% for American Airlines.
Southwest Airlines arrived on time 19.0 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Chicago to Washington
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD→DCA Chicago to Washington | 20,159 | 73.0% | 2.28% | -3 min | 46 |
| ORD→BWI this route Chicago to Baltimore | 8,320 | 75.9% | 1.69% | -4 min | 59 |
ORD → BWI is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 75.9% on time, against 73.0% for ORD → DCA.
Flying to BWI from the Chicago area? Compare ORD, MDW for BWI, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 72.1%
- Feb: 83.9%
- Mar: 72.0%
- Apr: 77.7%
- May: 74.6%
- Jun: 73.9%
- Jul: 68.3%
- Aug: 74.0%
- Sep: 79.8%
- Oct: 80.7%
- Nov: 82.3%
- Dec: 73.9%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 15.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 66.5% from 236 flights
- August 2023: 73.7% from 258 flights
- September 2023: 74.5% from 255 flights
- October 2023: 82.8% from 263 flights
- November 2023: 88.0% from 251 flights
- December 2023: 79.5% from 255 flights
- January 2024: 62.9% from 211 flights
- February 2024: 85.1% from 194 flights
- March 2024: 78.2% from 221 flights
- April 2024: 80.3% from 223 flights
- May 2024: 74.0% from 230 flights
- June 2024: 78.1% from 220 flights
- July 2024: 74.6% from 227 flights
- August 2024: 72.9% from 224 flights
- September 2024: 84.8% from 224 flights
- October 2024: 80.6% from 248 flights
- November 2024: 85.0% from 200 flights
- December 2024: 80.2% from 187 flights
- January 2025: 82.4% from 184 flights
- February 2025: 89.8% from 178 flights
- March 2025: 73.9% from 214 flights
- April 2025: 83.2% from 206 flights
- May 2025: 74.2% from 236 flights
- June 2025: 71.4% from 237 flights
- July 2025: 62.7% from 247 flights
- August 2025: 75.1% from 253 flights
- September 2025: 80.6% from 248 flights
- October 2025: 78.5% from 246 flights
- November 2025: 72.5% from 215 flights
- December 2025: 61.1% from 207 flights
- January 2026: 71.8% from 150 flights
- February 2026: 76.1% from 167 flights
- March 2026: 62.4% from 198 flights
- April 2026: 70.9% from 252 flights
- May 2026: 75.3% from 274 flights
- June 2026: 72.6% from 239 flights
- July 2026: 69.6% from 242 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 72.5% against 77.9% in the 12 months before — declining by 5.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,320 ORD → BWI 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