Flights Houston → Chicago
IAH → ORD
Route overview
The flight route from Houston to Chicago operates with a high level of punctuality, with 80% of flights arriving on time. Over the course of a year, an average delay of 16.4 minutes is experienced across the 1474 total flights, using a variety of aircraft including Boeing and Airbus models.
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 Houston (IAH) → Chicago (ORD) route is operated by American Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines. Across 1833 flights monitored in recent months, 79% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 19 minutes. The cancellation rate is 3.06%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 24.3/100 (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 Houston the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Houston (IAH) to Chicago (ORD) heads north-east for about 1,491 km, a flight time of roughly 2h 17m.
Departures from Houston on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 41% of IAH-ORD flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Houston the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 1,833 tracked IAH-ORD flights, 79% left on time with an average delay of 19 min and a 3.1% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 74% | 16 min | 3.0% |
| Spirit Airlines (NK) | 74% | 10 min | 1.5% |
Airlines operating IAH-ORD
Airports
Frequently asked questions about IAH-ORD
On the Houston (IAH) -> Chicago (ORD) route, on-time performance is 79% with an average delay of 19 minutes, based on 1833 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Houston-Chicago is 3.06% across 1833 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 3 airlines: American Airlines, Spirit Airlines, 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.
