Route reliability
Salt Lake City (SLC) to Chicago (ORD): which airline is most on time?
On-time arrivals, cancellations and long delays for every airline that reported nonstop flights from Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) to Chicago, IL (ORD), September 2025 to August 2026.
Salt Lake City, UTChicago, IL
Route at a glance · September 2025 to August 2026
SLC to ORD
Salt Lake City, UT to Chicago, IL
- On time
- 73.2%vs 75.6% U.S. average Worse than average
- Cancelled
- 1.5%vs 1.9% U.S. average Better than average
- 60+ min late
- 10.5%vs 8.1% U.S. average Worse than average
- Scheduled flights
- 3,246in 12 months5 airlines
- Most reliable airline
- American Airlines74.1% on time · 1,045 flights
On time less often than the U.S. average, with fewer cancellations.
Airlines on this route
Ranked by on-time arrival
| Airline | On time | Cancelled | 60+ min late | Avg delay when late | Diverted | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. American Airlines Most reliable | 74.1% | 1.9% | 11.8% | 124 min | 0.8% | 1,045 |
| 2. Delta Air Lines | 73.9% | 1.1% | 8.8% | 68 min | 0.9% | 1,013 |
| 3. United Airlines | 72.2% | 1.4% | 10.9% | 91 min | 0.6% | 1,073 |
| 4. SkyWest Airlines Operating carrier; sold as United Express, Delta Connection, American Eagle, Alaska Small sample (under 300 flights) | 72.2% | 2.5% | 8.9% | 102 min | 0.0% | 79 |
| Envoy Air Operating carrier; sold as American Eagle | Insufficient sample (fewer than 50 flights) | 36 | ||||
On time = arrived within 15 minutes of schedule. Avg delay when late = average arrival delay of flights 15+ minutes late. "Most reliable" needs at least 300 flights in 12 months. Tap a heading to sort.
What this means
American Airlines has the strongest record on this route.
- American Airlines had the best on-time record from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Chicago (ORD): 74.1% of its 1,045 scheduled flights arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, compared with 72.2% for United Airlines. The gap is small, so treat the airlines as roughly equal on punctuality.
- Envoy Air also flew this route but with fewer than 50 reported flights, too few to rate.
- 1.5% of flights on this route were cancelled (about 1 in 67), about the same as the U.S. average of 1.9%.
- 10.5% of flights, about 1 in 10, arrived an hour or more late. When a flight was late (15+ minutes), the average arrival delay was 94 min.
- Overall, 73.2% of flights on this route arrived on time, 2.4 points lower than the U.S. average of 75.6%.
- Over the last 3 years, September was the most reliable month on this route (85.9% on time) and July the least reliable (67.6%).
- Cancellations peaked in July, when 3.1% of flights were cancelled.
- Flights scheduled to depart 6 am to 7 am were the most punctual (88.1% on time); flights scheduled to depart 2 pm to 3 pm were the least (60.0%).
- In the other direction, Chicago (ORD) to Salt Lake City (SLC), 67.5% of flights were on time and 1.4% were cancelled. Compare airlines ORD to SLC.
Best and worst months to fly SLC to ORD
Share of scheduled flights on time 12-month average 73.2%
Show as table
| Period | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 74.7% | 719 |
| February | 82.2% | 754 |
| March | 76.5% | 897 |
| April | 78.2% | 767 |
| May | 76.0% | 797 |
| June | 74.2% | 799 |
| July | 67.6% | 774 |
| August | 70.2% | 803 |
| September | 85.9% | 725 |
| October | 84.9% | 769 |
| November | 82.0% | 657 |
| December | 78.7% | 728 |
| Airline | Best month | Worst month |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | October (83.8%) | August (61.4%) |
| Delta Air Lines | February (86.4%) | July (65.9%) |
| United Airlines | September (89.6%) | July (68.4%) |
| SkyWest Airlines | June (92.2%) | February (67.4%) |
Month by month, last 12 months
Share of scheduled flights on time U.S. average 75.6%
Show as table
| Period | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 81.1% | 244 |
| Oct 2025 | 79.2% | 265 |
| Nov 2025 | 74.2% | 240 |
| Dec 2025 | 68.9% | 241 |
| Jan 2026 | 70.9% | 237 |
| Feb 2026 | 83.1% | 284 |
| Mar 2026 | 67.8% | 317 |
| Apr 2026 | 73.4% | 267 |
| May 2026 | 76.3% | 283 |
| Jun 2026 | 72.9% | 291 |
| Jul 2026 | 69.9% | 276 |
| Aug 2026 | 62.8% | 301 |
Best and worst departure times
Share of scheduled flights on time
Show as table
| Period | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| Departing before 6 am | 91.7% | 60 |
| Departing 6 am to 7 am | 88.1% | 354 |
| Departing 7 am to 8 am | 85.5% | 304 |
| Departing 8 am to 9 am | 82.1% | 408 |
| Departing 9 am to 10 am | Insufficient sample | 24 |
| Departing 10 am to 11 am | 61.5% | 52 |
| Departing 11 am to noon | Insufficient sample | 5 |
| Departing noon to 1 pm | 71.2% | 368 |
| Departing 1 pm to 2 pm | 71.2% | 448 |
| Departing 2 pm to 3 pm | 60.0% | 270 |
| Departing 3 pm to 4 pm | Insufficient sample | 12 |
| Departing 4 pm to 5 pm | 64.0% | 417 |
| Departing 5 pm to 6 pm | 65.5% | 524 |
Sources & data dates
- Source
- U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987-present)
- Period
- September 2025 to August 2026 (12 months); month-of-year patterns September 2023 to August 2026
- Data through
- August 2026
- Processed
- 2026-11-03
- Scope
- Nonstop scheduled flights from Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) to Chicago, IL (ORD), one direction. Airlines that report to the DOT only.
- Method
- Rates use all scheduled flights as the denominator; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Figures based on fewer than 50 scheduled flights are suppressed. Full methodology.