Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) account for seven of the ten worst Chicago O’Hare delay routes and broader US routes for extended disruption, according to full-year 2025 data published by AirAdvisor. The compensation services firm analysed flights from 1 January to 31 December 2025, ranking routes by average rate of delays exceeding three hours and by average duration of those delays.
ORD appears four times on the worst-ten list and DFW three times, a concentration that reflects both airports’ roles as the principal hubs for United Airlines and American Airlines respectively.
The Routes and the Numbers
The Knoxville McGhee Tyson (TYS) to ORD service ranks as the single worst route, posting a 4.52% average delay rate and an average delay duration of 5 hours 39 minutes. The ORD to New York JFK sector carries the longest average delay of any route on the list at 7 hours 4 minutes, with a 2.88% delay rate. The Traverse City Cherry Capital (TVC) to ORD route records the highest average delay rate across the entire ranking at 5.04%, though its average duration of 4 hours 38 minutes is lower than several other routes.
On the DFW side, the Austin-Bergstrom (AUS) to DFW sector posts a 3.07% delay rate and an average delay time of 6 hours 20 minutes, ranking third overall. Los Angeles (LAX) to DFW comes in at eighth with an average delay of 6 hours 43 minutes, and Denver (DEN) to DFW closes the list in tenth place with a 5 hours 58 minutes average.
AirAdvisor CEO Radchenko, commenting to TheTravel, attributed the high rates on the TVC-ORD and TYS-ORD routes to small origin airports having ‘little room for recovery’ from operational disruptions. Cherry Capital Airport handles over 700,000 annual passengers, while Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson recorded 3,630,410 passengers in 2025, up 8.7% from the prior year. O’Hare, by contrast, processes around 80 million travellers each year, meaning any disruption at a feeder airport cascades rapidly through ORD’s operation.
Chicago O’Hare Delay Routes and the Weather Factor
Radchenko identified severe weather as the primary driver of extended delays at both mega-hubs. Chicago’s exposure to thunderstorms, heavy snow and strong shifting winds makes ORD particularly vulnerable. On 10 June, fast-moving storms prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a ground stop at ORD, a recurring pattern the AirAdvisor CEO described to TheTravel in plain terms: ‘Chicago is one of the most weather-compromised major hubs in the country. Its seasons produce disruption from ice, convective storms, fog… Passengers looking for a clean window will find it narrow.’
DFW sits in a meteorological collision zone where varying air masses regularly clash, producing intense spring thunderstorms, hail, and unpredictable ice and snow events. As at ORD, the FAA periodically mandates ground stops or rerouting, triggering waves of delays and cancellations that can overwhelm carrier customer service teams and local hotel capacity when disruptions stretch overnight.
The carrier concentration at both airports amplifies the operational risk. Between February 2024 and January 2025, United Airlines held 46.3% of ORD’s passenger market with 37.08 million travellers, followed by American Airlines at 29.2% with 23.4 million passengers. At DFW, approximately 70 million of the airport’s 85 to 87 million annual passengers fly through American Airlines, making it the carrier’s largest hub.
Radchenko told TheTravel that prolonged waits change the nature of the passenger relationship: ‘When passengers wait that long, the question stops being about the schedule and starts being about what they are owed or what this will cost.’
Routes to Avoid and Practical Guidance
AirAdvisor’s data also identifies routes with a 0% delay rate across the study period. The London Heathrow (LHR) to JFK sector recorded the highest volume of on-time services at 799 flights, with LHR-ORD and ORD-LHR both appearing in the top five delay-free routes. Radchenko notes that 60% of serious delays on the high-risk routes occurred during afternoon hours, and advises travellers on those sectors to book morning departures where possible. Switching from ORD to Chicago Midway (MDW) and from JFK to Newark (EWR) or LaGuardia (LGA) were among the practical alternatives he outlined, alongside building additional buffer time into connections to account for deplaning, gate changes, security and customs.
