Houston (IAH) – Chicago (ORD)
- Distance
- 1,489 km
- 925 mi · 804 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 46 min / 2 h 49 min
- Average gate to gate: IAH → ORD / back
- Time difference
- none
- CO2 per passenger
- 187 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (111 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,711,056
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +2.3%
- Flights / week
- 232
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 82%
- 2,074,700 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 7
- UA, AA, 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 IAH
- 25°
- Heading from ORD
- 209°
- Halfway point
- 36.04, -91.91
- Great-circle km
- 1,491 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air IAH → ORD
- 2 h 8 min
- In the air ORD → IAH
- 2 h 11 min
- Clocks
- Same time in both
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 35 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 146,606 |
| Sep 2025 | 143,007 |
| Oct 2025 | 146,826 |
| Nov 2025 | 123,684 |
| Dec 2025 | 145,664 |
| Jan 2026 | 121,089 |
| Feb 2026 | 117,335 |
| Mar 2026 | 145,289 |
| Apr 2026 | 139,401 |
| May 2026 | 157,453 |
| Jun 2026 | 160,212 |
| Jul 2026 | 164,490 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 1,046 |
| Sep 2025 | 1,068 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,035 |
| Nov 2025 | 909 |
| Dec 2025 | 1,019 |
| Jan 2026 | 927 |
| Feb 2026 | 870 |
| Mar 2026 | 987 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,023 |
| May 2026 | 1,078 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,030 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,070 |
Airlines flying IAH–ORD nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 154 | 73% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 30 | 10% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 9.7 | 6% |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 10 | 6% |
| YXRepublic Airline | 14 | 3% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 13 | 3% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 0.7 | 0% |
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 A321-200n · 4,191 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 2,340 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 1,779 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 1,338 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 999 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 522 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 268 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 185 flights
Also carried: 797 tonnes of freight and 283 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 75.7%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 20 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.5%
- Flights counted
- 12,233
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 79.4% | 15 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 63.2% | 37 min |
| YXRepublic Airline | 75% | 20 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 73.9% | 17 min |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 64.5% | 30 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 71.5% | 36 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 23% · aircraft arriving late 40% · air traffic system 31% · weather 5% · 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
- $220
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $219
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 63% of passengers · $254
- Lowest-fare airline
- Spirit Air Lines
- 13% of passengers · $115
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $221 · Q3 2025 $216 · Q4 2025 $220 · Q1 2026 $220).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $224, likely $199–$256
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 8.9%). 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 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: 1,491 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 Houston and Chicago
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Houston airports · All Chicago airports
More routes from IAH
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 → PHX | 2,317 km | 1,706,053 |
| ORD → SEA | 2,769 km | 1,622,991 |