Los Angeles (LAX) – Chicago (ORD)
- Distance
- 2,808 km
- 1,745 mi · 1,516 nm
- Flight time
- 4 h 6 min / 4 h 27 min
- Average gate to gate: LAX → ORD / back
- Time difference
- 2 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 352 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (208 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 2,332,419
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −1.1%
- Flights / week
- 266
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 85%
- 2,731,460 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 5
- 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 LAX
- 62°
- Heading from ORD
- 262°
- Halfway point
- 38.96, -104.01
- Great-circle km
- 2,802 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air LAX → ORD
- 3 h 30 min
- In the air ORD → LAX
- 3 h 50 min
- Clocks
- Chicago is 2 h ahead of Los Angeles
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 5 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 226,808 |
| Sep 2025 | 195,418 |
| Oct 2025 | 192,078 |
| Nov 2025 | 186,224 |
| Dec 2025 | 197,107 |
| Jan 2026 | 143,723 |
| Feb 2026 | 134,674 |
| Mar 2026 | 187,175 |
| Apr 2026 | 181,617 |
| May 2026 | 207,641 |
| Jun 2026 | 227,217 |
| Jul 2026 | 252,737 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 1,314 |
| Sep 2025 | 1,234 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,132 |
| Nov 2025 | 1,129 |
| Dec 2025 | 1,125 |
| Jan 2026 | 917 |
| Feb 2026 | 906 |
| Mar 2026 | 1,064 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,079 |
| May 2026 | 1,199 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,288 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,470 |
Airlines flying LAX–ORD nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 130 | 52% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 115 | 40% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 8.6 | 4% |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 6.9 | 3% |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 5.7 | 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
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 4,810 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 3,203 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 1,966 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 1,601 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 616 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 473 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 331 flights
- Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/233LR · 292 flights
Also carried: 5,557 tonnes of freight and 1,111 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 74.6%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 21 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.5%
- Flights counted
- 14,048
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 78.8% | 16 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 70.8% | 26 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 62.4% | 43 min |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 75.7% | 22 min |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 74% | 19 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 31% · aircraft arriving late 42% · air traffic system 21% · 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
- $320
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $264
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 51% of passengers · $346
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 41% of passengers · $307
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $245 · Q3 2025 $237 · Q4 2025 $273 · Q1 2026 $320).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $326, likely $289–$372
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 76% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 7.2%). 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: 2,802 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 Los Angeles and Chicago
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Chicago airports
More routes from LAX
More routes from ORD
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| ORD → LGA | 1,180 km | 2,736,902 |
| 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 |
| ORD → SEA | 2,769 km | 1,622,991 |