Washington (DCA) – Chicago (ORD)
- Distance
- 985 km
- 612 mi · 532 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 19 min / 1 h 59 min
- Average gate to gate: DCA → ORD / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 124 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (73 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,291,161
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −4.6%
- Flights / week
- 262
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 72%
- 1,792,883 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 5
- UA, AA, YX
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 DCA
- 294°
- Heading from ORD
- 107°
- Halfway point
- 40.54, -82.35
- Great-circle km
- 983 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DCA → ORD
- 1 h 39 min
- In the air ORD → DCA
- 1 h 24 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 | 121,161 |
| Sep 2025 | 112,698 |
| Oct 2025 | 123,868 |
| Nov 2025 | 93,342 |
| Dec 2025 | 93,937 |
| Jan 2026 | 71,884 |
| Feb 2026 | 77,371 |
| Mar 2026 | 104,693 |
| Apr 2026 | 106,030 |
| May 2026 | 124,302 |
| Jun 2026 | 130,331 |
| Jul 2026 | 131,544 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 1,131 |
| Sep 2025 | 1,149 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,184 |
| Nov 2025 | 1,068 |
| Dec 2025 | 1,090 |
| Jan 2026 | 1,090 |
| Feb 2026 | 1,045 |
| Mar 2026 | 1,108 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,093 |
| May 2026 | 1,201 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,231 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,212 |
Airlines flying DCA–ORD nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 127 | 51% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 84 | 37% |
| YXRepublic Airline | 41 | 9% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 6.3 | 2% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 3.5 | 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
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 3,884 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 2,610 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 2,562 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 1,782 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 1,540 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 909 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 195 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 67 flights
Also carried: 13 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 72.4%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 23 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 3.2%
- Flights counted
- 14,090
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 73.1% | 22 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 70.9% | 27 min |
| YXRepublic Airline | 72.5% | 22 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 82.2% | 12 min |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 61.5% | 36 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 20% · aircraft arriving late 40% · air traffic system 33% · weather 7% · 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
- $251
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $226
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 61% of passengers · $257
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 38% of passengers · $243
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $217 · Q3 2025 $208 · Q4 2025 $236 · Q1 2026 $251).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $256, likely $227–$292
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 5.4%). 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: Q1, typically 3% 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: 983 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 DCA
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 |