Flights Birmingham → Chicago
BHM → ORD
Route overview
The flight route from Birmingham to Chicago operates with a high level of punctuality, with 83% of the 523 total flights arriving on time. The average delay for delayed flights is approximately 16 minutes, making this route relatively reliable despite its significant annual passenger volume at the destination airport, which serves over 80 million passengers per year.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Birmingham (BHM) → Chicago (ORD) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 600 flights monitored in recent months, 82% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 16 minutes. The cancellation rate is 4.33%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 32.3/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Birmingham the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Birmingham (BHM) to Chicago (ORD) heads north for about 941 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 36m.
Departures from Birmingham on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 56% of BHM-ORD flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Birmingham the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 600 tracked BHM-ORD flights, 82% left on time with an average delay of 16 min and a 4.3% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
Check the risk of a specific flight.
Flexible on this trip? Compare flights
Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
Airlines operating BHM-ORD
Airports
Frequently asked questions about BHM-ORD
On the Birmingham (BHM) -> Chicago (ORD) route, on-time performance is 82% with an average delay of 16 minutes, based on 600 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Birmingham-Chicago is 4.33% across 600 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Chicago, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.