Route profile
ORD→OMA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to Omaha, 416 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 19% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,813 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
ORD → OMA arrives on time 72.6% of the time; the return trip, OMA → ORD, arrives on time 78.4% of the time, a 5.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
ORD → OMA spends 30.3 minutes on the ground on a 416-mile trip: 24.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 5.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at OMA.
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 99% of 2,692 comparable routes.
Republic Airways arrived on time 81.9% of the time, against 55.1% 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 OMA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ORD to OMA struggles most at 10 PM: 45.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 22.7 points behind the 67.7% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 26.7 points.
Wednesday is the day ORD to OMA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 73.9% on time where they average 82.1%, 8.2 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.9 points.
In June, ORD to OMA runs 8.8 points below routes of similar length, 64.7% on time to 73.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 8 points.
American Airlines’ flights on ORD to OMA arrive on time 55.1% of the time, 19.6 points below the 74.7% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 20 points.
ORD to OMA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 PM departures | 45.0% | routes of similar length | 67.7% | −22.7 pts | 249 here, 34,154 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 73.9% | routes of similar length | 82.1% | −8.2 pts | 1,074 here, 211,704 there |
| Month: June | 64.7% | routes of similar length | 73.5% | −8.8 pts | 733 here, 125,051 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 55.1% | routes of similar length | 74.7% | −19.6 pts | 800 here, 177,364 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 416 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 → OMA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
ORD → OMA cancelled 132 of 7,813 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 59. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 81.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 72 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 132 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.
108 cancellations, 81.8% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
19 cancellations, 14.4% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
5 cancellations, 3.8% 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.
132 coded cancellations were recorded on ORD → OMA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
59 min late
against a median of 3 min early
ORD → OMA has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 3 min early, but the worst tenth are 62 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 7,813 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at OMA after arriving from ORD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 43% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 27% | High risk |
| 60 min | 18% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.9% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.7% | 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 1.69% of the time and diverts 0.17% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,668 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 59 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,813 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ORD → OMA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 82.7% of the time, against 53.5% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 29.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 83.0% on time from 1,210 flights
- 9 AM: 80.7% on time from 316 flights
- 10 AM: 80.9% on time from 380 flights
- 11 AM: 76.6% on time from 149 flights
- 12 PM: 81.1% on time from 1,232 flights
- 1 PM: 84.2% on time from 148 flights
- 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 74.9% on time from 1,080 flights
- 4 PM: 73.2% on time from 413 flights
- 5 PM: 60.1% on time from 369 flights
- 6 PM: too few flights to score
- 7 PM: 70.2% on time from 169 flights
- 8 PM: 61.1% on time from 1,413 flights
- 9 PM: 58.9% on time from 334 flights
- 10 PM: 45.0% on time from 264 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why ORD → OMA 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 → OMA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on ORD → OMA, at 43.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 82.7% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 53.5%.
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 | 3,479 | 73.6% | 1.12% | -4 min | 9.5% |
| Envoy Air | 1,575 | 77.6% | 2.48% | -5 min | 7.0% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,200 | 69.6% | 2.25% | 0 min | 12.4% |
| American Airlines | 820 | 55.1% | 1.83% | 9 min | 17.9% |
| Republic Airways | 731 | 81.9% | 1.50% | -9 min | 5.7% |
United Airlines flew 44.6% of the 7,805 flights listed. Envoy Air cancelled 2.48% of its flights here against 1.12% for United Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 26.8 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 Friday the least, a gap of 7.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 73.4%
- Feb: 78.9%
- Mar: 73.1%
- Apr: 73.0%
- May: 71.7%
- Jun: 64.7%
- Jul: 63.9%
- Aug: 70.8%
- Sep: 79.2%
- Oct: 77.5%
- Nov: 80.3%
- Dec: 72.1%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 16.4 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 54.7% from 153 flights
- August 2023: 69.6% from 183 flights
- September 2023: 78.2% from 188 flights
- October 2023: 80.6% from 180 flights
- November 2023: 85.0% from 153 flights
- December 2023: 87.4% from 151 flights
- January 2024: 71.4% from 153 flights
- February 2024: 86.1% from 137 flights
- March 2024: 83.0% from 160 flights
- April 2024: 76.1% from 199 flights
- May 2024: 62.3% from 212 flights
- June 2024: 66.0% from 206 flights
- July 2024: 64.1% from 187 flights
- August 2024: 68.3% from 209 flights
- September 2024: 84.4% from 180 flights
- October 2024: 81.6% from 185 flights
- November 2024: 83.5% from 176 flights
- December 2024: 78.1% from 171 flights
- January 2025: 82.0% from 196 flights
- February 2025: 75.0% from 188 flights
- March 2025: 73.5% from 212 flights
- April 2025: 76.1% from 209 flights
- May 2025: 78.7% from 239 flights
- June 2025: 62.1% from 259 flights
- July 2025: 60.3% from 267 flights
- August 2025: 73.7% from 253 flights
- September 2025: 76.0% from 247 flights
- October 2025: 72.5% from 266 flights
- November 2025: 74.7% from 239 flights
- December 2025: 56.7% from 220 flights
- January 2026: 66.8% from 210 flights
- February 2026: 77.6% from 201 flights
- March 2026: 66.3% from 250 flights
- April 2026: 68.6% from 300 flights
- May 2026: 72.6% from 286 flights
- June 2026: 66.1% from 283 flights
- July 2026: 71.8% from 305 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 70.3% against 74.4% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.1 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,813 ORD → OMA 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