YXSAT→ORD

Republic flew 101 of the 1,968 flights on SAT to ORD, about 5% of it. Its 74.7% on time is 2 points worse than the route as a whole, which runs 76.3%. Ranked by on-time rate it is number three of five carriers on the route, where the range runs from United at 80.1% to SkyWest at 65.9%. Two of those carriers flew fewer than 365 flights here, so treat their positions as rough.

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 80.1% of the time; American Airlines manages 73.1%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 550 flights means less than a ten-point one.

7.4% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 8.1%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about 55 minutes, which a normal layover absorbs.

The 1,041 miles between these two airports put this in the middle of the US network, around two and a half to three hours of block time. That is enough cruise to absorb a ten-minute late pushback and not enough to absorb thirty. It is also long enough that the aircraft usually flies three or four legs a day rather than six, which slows how fast delay compounds.

The return leg is a different operation and performs like one: it runs 82.3% on time across 101 flights, 8 points above this direction. Departure banks, aircraft rotations and the congestion at each end all differ, so scoring the two directions together would average away a real 8 points of difference.

One caution: this is a thin sample. 101 flights over twelve months is enough to clear this site's floor but not enough to pin the rate down tightly, and a single bad week moves it by more than a point. Treat the grade as a rough reading.