Chicago (ORD) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 2,773 km
- 1,723 mi · 1,497 nm
- Flight time
- 4 h 25 min / 4 h 10 min
- Average gate to gate: ORD → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 2 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 348 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (206 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,117,270
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +25.0%
- Flights / week
- 146
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 81%
- 1,371,745 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- UA, AA, AS
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 ORD
- 258°
- Heading from SAN
- 60°
- Halfway point
- 38.27, -103.47
- Great-circle km
- 2,768 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air ORD → SAN
- 3 h 51 min
- In the air SAN → ORD
- 3 h 29 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 2 h behind Chicago
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 | 96,676 |
| Sep 2025 | 80,423 |
| Oct 2025 | 99,793 |
| Nov 2025 | 84,711 |
| Dec 2025 | 86,838 |
| Jan 2026 | 69,072 |
| Feb 2026 | 72,735 |
| Mar 2026 | 98,675 |
| Apr 2026 | 96,238 |
| May 2026 | 99,505 |
| Jun 2026 | 114,174 |
| Jul 2026 | 118,430 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 630 |
| Sep 2025 | 537 |
| Oct 2025 | 704 |
| Nov 2025 | 611 |
| Dec 2025 | 603 |
| Jan 2026 | 485 |
| Feb 2026 | 482 |
| Mar 2026 | 635 |
| Apr 2026 | 658 |
| May 2026 | 723 |
| Jun 2026 | 744 |
| Jul 2026 | 776 |
Airlines flying ORD–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 64 | 46% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 52 | 36% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 29 | 17% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 1.2 | 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
- Boeing 737-800 · 2,856 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 1,937 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 1,166 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 873 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 350 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 325 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 39 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 33 flights
Also carried: 152 tonnes of freight and 145 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 74.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 19 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.3%
- Flights counted
- 7,739
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 79.4% | 16 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 72.3% | 22 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 70.4% | 21 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 61.7% | 53 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 28% · aircraft arriving late 37% · air traffic system 28% · 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
- $231
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $237
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 45% of passengers · $261
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 24% of passengers · $183
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $281 · Q3 2025 $222 · Q4 2025 $223 · Q1 2026 $231).
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: 2,768 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 Chicago and San Diego
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Chicago airports
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 |