Des Moines (DSM) – Chicago (ORD)
- Distance
- 481 km
- 299 mi · 260 nm
- Flight time
- 1 h 36 min / 1 h 27 min
- Average gate to gate: DSM → ORD / back
- Time difference
- none
- CO2 per passenger
- 110 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (65 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 464,489
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +7.9%
- Flights / week
- 131
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 73%
- 640,188 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 6
- UA, OO, 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 DSM
- 82°
- Heading from ORD
- 266°
- Halfway point
- 41.79, -90.79
- Great-circle km
- 480 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DSM → ORD
- 54 min
- In the air ORD → DSM
- 52 min
- Clocks
- Same time in both
The estimate for a route without real times is 1 h 20 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 44,941 |
| Sep 2025 | 41,558 |
| Oct 2025 | 44,955 |
| Nov 2025 | 30,799 |
| Dec 2025 | 33,875 |
| Jan 2026 | 29,146 |
| Feb 2026 | 31,735 |
| Mar 2026 | 38,418 |
| Apr 2026 | 42,740 |
| May 2026 | 46,762 |
| Jun 2026 | 37,206 |
| Jul 2026 | 42,354 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 581 |
| Sep 2025 | 530 |
| Oct 2025 | 590 |
| Nov 2025 | 488 |
| Dec 2025 | 526 |
| Jan 2026 | 439 |
| Feb 2026 | 476 |
| Mar 2026 | 581 |
| Apr 2026 | 719 |
| May 2026 | 736 |
| Jun 2026 | 573 |
| Jul 2026 | 580 |
Airlines flying DSM–ORD nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 38 | 44% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 41 | 22% |
| YXRepublic Airline | 21 | 14% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 18 | 11% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 8.7 | 8% |
| G7GoJet Airlines | 4.3 | 2% |
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 · 1,969 flights
- Canadair RJ-700 · 1,296 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 1,272 flights
- Bombardier CRJ550 · 612 flights
- Embraer-Emb-170 · 519 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 311 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 269 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 227 flights
Also carried: 26 tonnes of freight and 2 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 72.6%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 25 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 3.9%
- Flights counted
- 6,824
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 66.8% | 32 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 74.4% | 20 min |
| YXRepublic Airline | 77.8% | 19 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 75.4% | 17 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 74.1% | 34 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 28% · aircraft arriving late 38% · air traffic system 22% · weather 12% · 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, Q4 2025
- $217
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $219
- Q2 2025 – Q4 2025
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 65% of passengers · $221
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 34% of passengers · $208
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $214 · Q3 2025 $226 · Q4 2025 $217).
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: 480 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 Des Moines and Chicago
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Chicago airports
More routes from DSM
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 |