Chicago (ORD) – Louisville (SDF)
- Distance
- 462 km
- 287 mi · 249 nm
- Flight time
- 1 h 28 min / 1 h 41 min
- Average gate to gate: ORD → SDF / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 106 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (63 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 326,666
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +7.6%
- Flights / week
- 124
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 74%
- 441,147 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 6
- YX, OO, G7
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
- 156°
- Heading from SDF
- 337°
- Halfway point
- 40.08, -86.79
- Great-circle km
- 462 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air ORD → SDF
- 50 min
- In the air SDF → ORD
- 1 h
- Clocks
- Louisville is 1 h ahead of Chicago
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 | 26,502 |
| Sep 2025 | 30,133 |
| Oct 2025 | 31,608 |
| Nov 2025 | 22,612 |
| Dec 2025 | 24,636 |
| Jan 2026 | 20,519 |
| Feb 2026 | 22,245 |
| Mar 2026 | 24,938 |
| Apr 2026 | 30,200 |
| May 2026 | 34,494 |
| Jun 2026 | 28,021 |
| Jul 2026 | 30,758 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 554 |
| Sep 2025 | 556 |
| Oct 2025 | 585 |
| Nov 2025 | 463 |
| Dec 2025 | 518 |
| Jan 2026 | 454 |
| Feb 2026 | 425 |
| Mar 2026 | 472 |
| Apr 2026 | 605 |
| May 2026 | 760 |
| Jun 2026 | 523 |
| Jul 2026 | 538 |
Airlines flying ORD–SDF nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| YXRepublic Airline | 67 | 58% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 24 | 18% |
| G7GoJet Airlines | 19 | 12% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 13 | 11% |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 0.4 | 1% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 0.3 | 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
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 4,161 flights
- Bombardier CRJ550 · 1,638 flights
- Embraer-Emb-170 · 447 flights
- Canadair RJ-200ER /RJ-440 · 152 flights
- Canadair RJ-700 · 16 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 11 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 10 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 6 flights
Also carried: 1 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 78%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 17 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 3.2%
- Flights counted
- 5,589
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| YXRepublic Airline | 79.8% | 15 min |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 70.7% | 23 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 83.7% | 12 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 21% · aircraft arriving late 43% · air traffic system 29% · 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
- $249
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $236
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 57% of passengers · $259
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 41% of passengers · $232
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $233 · Q3 2025 $229 · Q4 2025 $235 · Q1 2026 $249).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $248, likely $211–$288
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 86% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 6%). 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 4% 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: 462 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 Louisville
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 |