Chicago (ORD) – San Antonio (SAT)
- Distance
- 1,676 km
- 1,042 mi · 905 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 56 min / 2 h 55 min
- Average gate to gate: ORD → SAT / back
- Time difference
- none
- CO2 per passenger
- 211 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (125 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 377,446
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +0.7%
- Flights / week
- 74
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 80%
- 473,932 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 5
- UA, AA, MQ
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
- 218°
- Heading from SAT
- 32°
- Halfway point
- 35.87, -93.60
- Great-circle km
- 1,677 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air ORD → SAT
- 2 h 24 min
- In the air SAT → ORD
- 2 h 20 min
- Clocks
- Same time in both
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 45 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 29,919 |
| Sep 2025 | 28,793 |
| Oct 2025 | 37,899 |
| Nov 2025 | 30,367 |
| Dec 2025 | 29,292 |
| Jan 2026 | 24,645 |
| Feb 2026 | 24,911 |
| Mar 2026 | 30,683 |
| Apr 2026 | 32,497 |
| May 2026 | 34,905 |
| Jun 2026 | 37,122 |
| Jul 2026 | 36,413 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 297 |
| Sep 2025 | 300 |
| Oct 2025 | 358 |
| Nov 2025 | 306 |
| Dec 2025 | 316 |
| Jan 2026 | 277 |
| Feb 2026 | 288 |
| Mar 2026 | 346 |
| Apr 2026 | 339 |
| May 2026 | 357 |
| Jun 2026 | 335 |
| Jul 2026 | 347 |
Airlines flying ORD–SAT nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 33 | 53% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 19 | 27% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 14 | 13% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 4.3 | 4% |
| YXRepublic Airline | 3.7 | 4% |
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 · 1,226 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 1,156 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 458 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 402 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 320 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 155 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 103 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 29 flights
Also carried: 30 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 75.4%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 19 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.1%
- Flights counted
- 3,956
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 77.6% | 18 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 70.4% | 24 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 77% | 15 min |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 74.3% | 16 min |
| YXRepublic Airline | 78.5% | 13 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 24% · aircraft arriving late 46% · air traffic system 23% · weather 8% · 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
- $299
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $274
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 53% of passengers · $316
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 43% of passengers · $281
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $272 · Q3 2025 $251 · Q4 2025 $276 · Q1 2026 $299).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $305, likely $264–$348
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 5.1%). 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
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: 1,677 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 Antonio
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 |