Route profile
RSW→ORD
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Myers to Chicago, 1,120 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 37% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,903 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
RSW → ORD arrives on time 78.5% of the time; the return trip, ORD → RSW, arrives on time 79.0% of the time.
RSW → ORD spends 33.6 minutes on the ground on a 1,120-mile trip: 16.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at RSW and 17.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at ORD.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Every day of the week performs about the same on this route, steadier than 92% of 4,467 comparable routes.
80.5% on time on the best day (Monday) against 75.8% on the worst (Sunday).
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 4,467 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where RSW to ORD differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
RSW to ORD is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 PM: 76.3% arrive on time, 10 points ahead of the 66.3% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 8.5 points.
RSW to ORD struggles most at 4 PM: 63.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 5.1 points behind the 68.2% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.6 points.
RSW to ORD holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 80.5% on time to their 76.0%, a 4.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 3.3 points.
October is kinder to RSW to ORD than to routes of similar length: 88.5% on time against 82.6%, 5.9 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 5.5 points.
United Airlines does better on RSW to ORD than on its routes of similar length: 83.2% on time here, 80.8% there, 2.4 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 3.3 points.
RSW to ORD against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 76.3% | routes of similar length | 66.3% | +10.0 pts | 334 here, 162,449 there |
| Hour: 4 PM departures | 63.1% | routes of similar length | 68.2% | −5.1 pts | 1,360 here, 141,992 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 80.5% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | +4.5 pts | 1,280 here, 377,624 there |
| Month: October | 88.5% | routes of similar length | 82.6% | +5.9 pts | 556 here, 207,916 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 83.2% | routes of similar length | 80.8% | +2.4 pts | 4,548 here, 331,585 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 1,120 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 RSW → ORD flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
RSW → ORD cancelled 149 of 8,903 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 60. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 49.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 122 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 149 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.
73 cancellations, 49.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
54 cancellations, 36.2% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
22 cancellations, 14.8% 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.
149 coded cancellations were recorded on RSW → ORD; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
48 min late
against a median of 8 min early
Percentiles over 8,903 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at ORD after arriving from RSW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 35% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 21% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 8.0% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.2% | 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 1.67% of the time and diverts 0.49% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,710 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 48 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,903 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
RSW → ORD flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.2% of the time, against 63.8% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 27.4 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 87.4% on time from 326 flights
- 7 AM: 92.0% on time from 864 flights
- 8 AM: 93.7% on time from 193 flights
- 9 AM: 91.6% on time from 667 flights
- 10 AM: 84.9% on time from 249 flights
- 11 AM: 83.7% on time from 748 flights
- 12 PM: 86.8% on time from 1,401 flights
- 1 PM: 72.5% on time from 473 flights
- 2 PM: 79.1% on time from 687 flights
- 3 PM: 65.6% on time from 286 flights
- 4 PM: 63.1% on time from 1,390 flights
- 5 PM: 64.7% on time from 548 flights
- 6 PM: 69.7% on time from 274 flights
- 7 PM: 76.3% on time from 345 flights
- 8 PM: 67.8% on time from 151 flights
- 9 PM: 64.6% on time from 245 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why RSW → 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
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for RSW → ORD. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on RSW → ORD, at 40.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.2% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 63.8%.
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 | 4,626 | 83.2% | 1.34% | -9 min | 5.6% |
| American Airlines | 2,741 | 74.5% | 1.39% | -7 min | 10.9% |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,222 | 72.8% | 3.52% | -4 min | 11.0% |
| Southwest Airlines | 211 | 64.9% | 1.90% | 0 min | 11.7% |
United Airlines flew 52.6% of the 8,800 flights listed. Spirit Airlines cancelled 3.52% of its flights here against 1.34% for United Airlines.
United Airlines arrived on time 18.3 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Monday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 4.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 77.8%
- Feb: 80.4%
- Mar: 74.7%
- Apr: 80.1%
- May: 76.1%
- Jun: 77.3%
- Jul: 71.7%
- Aug: 77.3%
- Sep: 87.2%
- Oct: 88.5%
- Nov: 79.9%
- Dec: 77.0%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 16.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 69.7% from 159 flights
- August 2023: 75.8% from 161 flights
- September 2023: 80.1% from 151 flights
- October 2023: 90.5% from 216 flights
- November 2023: 79.9% from 226 flights
- December 2023: 82.9% from 294 flights
- January 2024: 73.3% from 324 flights
- February 2024: 85.8% from 303 flights
- March 2024: 74.6% from 343 flights
- April 2024: 82.8% from 308 flights
- May 2024: 66.4% from 218 flights
- June 2024: 76.8% from 154 flights
- July 2024: 68.3% from 123 flights
- August 2024: 73.9% from 136 flights
- September 2024: 89.8% from 123 flights
- October 2024: 92.4% from 156 flights
- November 2024: 85.9% from 213 flights
- December 2024: 76.6% from 296 flights
- January 2025: 86.8% from 290 flights
- February 2025: 83.1% from 258 flights
- March 2025: 77.7% from 341 flights
- April 2025: 79.2% from 310 flights
- May 2025: 81.7% from 208 flights
- June 2025: 76.5% from 180 flights
- July 2025: 68.8% from 181 flights
- August 2025: 81.3% from 179 flights
- September 2025: 91.6% from 168 flights
- October 2025: 83.6% from 201 flights
- November 2025: 75.1% from 266 flights
- December 2025: 72.1% from 337 flights
- January 2026: 73.6% from 317 flights
- February 2026: 73.6% from 342 flights
- March 2026: 72.5% from 468 flights
- April 2026: 78.5% from 363 flights
- May 2026: 80.1% from 232 flights
- June 2026: 78.4% from 178 flights
- July 2026: 78.7% from 180 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.0% against 80.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.8 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,903 RSW → 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