Washington (BWI) – Chicago (ORD)
- Distance
- 1,000 km
- 621 mi · 540 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 18 min / 2 h
- Average gate to gate: BWI → ORD / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 126 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (74 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 527,338
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −1.6%
- Flights / week
- 101
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 81%
- 651,157 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 8
- UA, MQ, F9
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from BWI
- 292°
- Heading from ORD
- 104°
- Halfway point
- 40.71, -82.17
- Great-circle km
- 998 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air BWI → ORD
- 1 h 42 min
- In the air ORD → BWI
- 1 h 25 min
- Clocks
- Chicago is 1 h behind Washington
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 54,834 |
| Sep 2025 | 52,171 |
| Oct 2025 | 54,100 |
| Nov 2025 | 38,973 |
| Dec 2025 | 39,310 |
| Jan 2026 | 29,673 |
| Feb 2026 | 29,660 |
| Mar 2026 | 33,165 |
| Apr 2026 | 43,484 |
| May 2026 | 52,203 |
| Jun 2026 | 49,822 |
| Jul 2026 | 49,943 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 499 |
| Sep 2025 | 496 |
| Oct 2025 | 493 |
| Nov 2025 | 404 |
| Dec 2025 | 403 |
| Jan 2026 | 287 |
| Feb 2026 | 327 |
| Mar 2026 | 375 |
| Apr 2026 | 489 |
| May 2026 | 542 |
| Jun 2026 | 467 |
| Jul 2026 | 460 |
Airlines flying BWI–ORD nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 46 | 59% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 31 | 19% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 5.2 | 8% |
| YXRepublic Airline | 12 | 7% |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 3.6 | 5% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 1.0 | 1% |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 0.7 | 1% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 1.1 | 1% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 1,528 flights
- Embraer-Emb-170 · 781 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 612 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 573 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 559 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 322 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 260 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 162 flights
Also carried: 99 tonnes of freight and 23 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 74.3%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 22 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.5%
- Flights counted
- 5,380
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 72.7% | 22 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 77.1% | 18 min |
| YXRepublic Airline | 76.4% | 22 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 66.7% | 47 min |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 80.1% | 17 min |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 67.3% | 22 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 48.1% | 46 min |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 88.9% | 6 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 20% · aircraft arriving late 39% · air traffic system 28% · weather 13% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $205
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $193
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 47% of passengers · $220
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 15% of passengers · $132
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $201 · Q3 2025 $178 · Q4 2025 $195 · Q1 2026 $205).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $209, likely $181–$239
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 81% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 7.3%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q3, typically 6% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 998 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Washington and Chicago
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports · All Chicago airports
More routes from BWI
More routes from ORD
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| ORD → LGA | 1,180 km | 2,736,902 |
| ORD → LAX | 2,808 km | 2,332,419 |
| ORD → SFO | 2,971 km | 1,976,484 |
| ORD → DEN | 1,430 km | 1,974,190 |
| ORD → MCO | 1,617 km | 1,924,694 |
| ORD → DFW | 1,290 km | 1,916,312 |
| ORD → BOS | 1,395 km | 1,886,038 |
| ORD → EWR | 1,157 km | 1,731,402 |
| ORD → IAH | 1,489 km | 1,711,056 |
| ORD → PHX | 2,317 km | 1,706,053 |