O'Hare International Airport

"O'Hare" and "ORD" redirect here. For other uses, see O'Hare (disambiguation) and Ord (disambiguation).

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (IATA: ORD, ICAO: KORD, FAA LID: ORD), sometimes referred to as Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately 17 miles (27 km) northwest of the Loop business district. Operated by the Chicago Department of Aviation^[4] and covering 7,627 acres (3,087 ha),^[5][6] O'Hare has non-stop flights to 214 destinations in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and the North Atlantic region as of November 2022.^[7][8] As of 2023, O'Hare is considered the world's most connected airport.^[9]

Chicago O'Hare International Airport
IATA: ORD ICAO: KORD FAA LID: ORD WMO: 72530
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Chicago Department of Aviation
Serves	Chicago metropolitan area
Location	O'Hare, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Opened	February 1944; 79 years ago (1944-02)^[1]
Hub for	American Airlines United Airlines
Focus city for	Polar Air Cargo
Operating base for	Frontier Airlines (begins May 2024)^[2] Spirit Airlines
Elevation AMSL	668 ft / 204 m
Coordinates	41°58′43″N 87°54′17″W / 41.97861°N 87.90472°W / 41.97861; -87.90472
Website	flychicago.com/ohare
Maps
FAA airport diagram
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4L/22R 7,500 2,286 Asphalt 4R/22L 8,075 2,461 Asphalt 9L/27R 7,500 2,286 Concrete 9C/27C 11,245 3,427 Concrete 9R/27L 11,260 3,432 Asphalt/concrete 10L/28R 13,000 3,962 Asphalt/concrete 10C/28C 10,800 3,292 Concrete 10R/28L 7,500 2,286 Concrete
Helipads
Number Length Surface ft m H1 200 61 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passenger volume 68,340,619 Aircraft movements 711,561 Cargo (metric tons) 2,235,708.9
Source: O'Hare International Airport^[3]

Designed to be the successor to Chicago's Midway International Airport, itself once nicknamed the "busiest square mile in the world," O'Hare began as an airfield serving a Douglas manufacturing plant for C-54 military transports during World War II. It was renamed Orchard Field Airport in the mid-1940s and assigned the IATA code ORD. In 1949, it was renamed after aviator Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the U.S. Navy's first Medal of Honor recipient during that war.^[10][11] As the first major airport planned after World War II, O'Hare's innovative design pioneered concepts such as concourses, direct highway access to the terminal, jet bridges, and underground refueling systems.^[12]

O'Hare became famous during the jet age, holding the distinction as the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic from 1963 to 1998; today, it is the world's fourth-busiest airport for passenger counts, serving 54 million passengers in 2021.^[13] In 2019, O'Hare had 919,704 aircraft movements, averaging 2,520 per day, the most of any airport in the world in part because of a large number of regional flights.^[14] On the ground, road access to the airport is offered by airport shuttle, bus, the Chicago "L", or taxis. Interstate 190 (Kennedy Expressway) goes directly into the airport. O'Hare is a hub for American Airlines and United Airlines (which is headquartered in Willis Tower),^[15][16] as well as a focus city for Spirit Airlines.^[17][18]

History

Establishment and defense efforts

See also: Illinois World War II Army Airfields

 

Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat on display in O'Hare's Terminal 2, restored in the markings of "Butch" O'Hare's plane

Soon after the opening of Chicago Municipal Airport in 1926, the City of Chicago realized more airport capacity would be needed. The city government investigated various sites in the 1930s but made little progress before America's entry into World War II.^[10]

O'Hare began as a manufacturing plant for Douglas C-54 Skymasters during World War II. The site was known as Orchard Place, previously a small German-American farming community. The 2 million square feet (190,000 m²) plant, in the northeast corner of what is now the airport, needed easy access to the workforce of the nation's second-largest city, as well as its railroads and location far from enemy threat. 655 C-54s were built at the plant, more than half of all produced. The airfield, from which the C-54s flew out, was known as Douglas Airport; initially, it had four 5,500-foot (1,700 m) runways.^[10] Less known is the fact that it was the location of the Army Air Force's 803rd Specialized Depot,^[19] a unit charged with storing many captured enemy aircraft; a few representatives of this collection would eventually be transferred to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.^[20][21]

Douglas Company's contract ended with the war's conclusion. Douglas considered building airliners at Orchard but chose to concentrate civil production at its headquarters in Santa Monica, California.^[10] With the departure of Douglas, the complex took the name Orchard Field Airport, and was assigned the IATA code ORD.^[22]

The United States Air Force used the field extensively during the Korean War; the airport then had no scheduled airline service. Although not its primary base in the area, the Air Force used O'Hare as a fighter base; it was home to the 62nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron flying North American F-86 Sabres from 1950 to 1959.^[23] By 1960, the need for O'Hare as an active duty fighter base was diminishing, just as commercial business was picking up at the airport. The Air Force removed active-duty units from O'Hare and turned the station over to Continental Air Command, enabling them to base reserve and Air National Guard units there.^[24] As a result of a 1993 agreement between the City and the Department of Defense, the reserve base was closed on April 1, 1997, ending its career as the home of the 928th Airlift Wing and of the 126th Air Refueling Wing in 1999. At that time, the remaining 357-acre (144 ha) site came under the ownership of the Chicago Department of Aviation.^[25]

Early commercial development

In 1945, Chicago mayor Edward Kelly established a board to choose the site of a new airport to meet future demand. After considering various proposals, the board decided upon the Orchard Field site and acquired most of the federal government property in March 1946. The military retained a small parcel of property on the site and the right to use 25% of the airfield's operating capacity for free.^[10]

Ralph H. Burke devised an airport master plan based on the pioneering idea of what he called "split finger terminals", allowing a terminal building to be attached to "airline wings" (concourses), each providing space for gates and planes. (Pre-war airport designs had favored ever-larger single terminals, exemplified by Berlin's Tempelhof.) Burke's design also included underground refueling, direct highway access to the front of terminals, and direct rail access from downtown, all of which are utilized at airports worldwide today.^[26] O'Hare was the site of the world's first jet bridge in 1958,^[27][28] and successfully adapted slip form paving, developed for the nation's new Interstate highway system, for seamless concrete runways.

In 1949, the City renamed the facility O'Hare Airport to honor Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the U.S. Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II.^[29] Its IATA code (ORD) remained unchanged, however, resulting in O'Hare being one of the few IATA codes bearing no connection to the airport's name or metropolitan area.^[22]

Arrival of passenger service and subsequent growth

Scheduled passenger service began in 1955,^[30] but growth was slow at first. Although Chicago had invested over $25 million in O'Hare, Midway remained the world's busiest airport and airlines were reluctant to move until highway access and other improvements were completed.^[31] The April 1957 Official Airline Guide listed 36 weekday departures from O'Hare, while Midway had 414. Improvements began to attract the airlines: O'Hare's first international terminal opened in August 1958, and by April 1959 the airport had expanded to 7,200 acres (2,900 ha) with new hangars, terminals, parking and other facilities. The expressway link to downtown Chicago, now known as the Kennedy Expressway, was completed in 1960.^[30] And new Terminals 2 and 3, designed by C. F. Murphy and Associates, opened on January 1, 1962.^[32]

The biggest factor driving airlines to relocate their operations from Midway to O'Hare was the jet airliner; the first scheduled jet at O'Hare was an American 707 from New York to Chicago to San Francisco on March 22, 1959.^[33] One-mile-square (1.6-kilometer-square) Midway had no space for the runways that 707s and DC-8s required. Airlines had been reluctant to move to O'Hare, but they naturally did not want to split their operations: in July 1962, the last fixed-wing scheduled airline flight in Chicago moved from Midway to O'Hare. Until United returned in July 1964, Midway's only scheduled airline was Chicago Helicopter Airways. The arrival of Midway's traffic quickly made O'Hare the world's busiest airport, serving 10 million passengers annually. Within two years, that number would double, with Chicagoans boasting that more people passed through O'Hare in 12 months than Ellis Island had processed in its entire existence. O'Hare remained the world's busiest airport until it was eclipsed by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 1998.

O'Hare had four runways in 1955;^[34] 8,000 foot (2,400 m) runway 14R/32L opened in 1956 and was extended to 11,600 feet (3,500 m) a few years later, allowing nonstops to Europe. Runway 9R/27L (now 10L/28R) opened in 1968 and runway 4R/22L in 1971.

Post-deregulation developments

 

Reconstructed Brachiosaurus skeleton, formerly in the Field Museum, exhibited in Concourse B since 1999

In the 1980s, after passage of US airline deregulation, the first major change at O'Hare occurred when TWA left Chicago for St. Louis as its main mid-continent hub.^[35] Although TWA had a large hangar complex at O'Hare and had started Constellation nonstops to Paris in 1958, by the time of deregulation its operation was losing $25 million a year under competition from United and American.^[36] Northwest likewise ceded O'Hare to the competition and shifted to a Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit-centered network by the early 1990s after acquiring Republic Airlines in 1986.^[37] Delta maintained an O'Hare hub for some time, even commissioning a new Concourse L in 1983.^[38] Ultimately, Delta found competing from an inferior position at O'Hare too expensive and closed its Chicago hub in the 1990s, concentrating its upper Midwest operations at Cincinnati.

 

The Terminal 1 underground tunnel connects Concourses B and C

The dominant hubs established at O'Hare in the 1980s by United and American continue to operate today. United developed a new two-concourse Terminal 1 (dubbed "The Terminal for Tomorrow"), designed by Helmut Jahn. It was built between 1985 and 1987 on the site of the original Terminal 1; the structure, which includes 50 gates, is best known for its curved glass forms and the connecting underground tunnel between Concourses B and C.^[39] The tunnel is illuminated with a neon installation titled Sky's the Limit (1987) by Canadian artist Michael Hayden, which plays an airy, slow-tempo version of Rhapsody in Blue.^[40] American renovated and expanded its existing facilities in Terminal 3 from 1987 to 1990; those renovations feature a flag-lined entrance hall to Concourses H/K.^[41]

The demolition of the original Terminal 1 in 1984 to make way for Jahn's design forced a "temporary" relocation of international flights into facilities called "Terminal 4" on the ground floor of the airport's central parking garage. International passengers were then bused to and from their aircraft. Relocation finally ended with the completion of the 21-gate International Terminal in 1993 (now called Terminal 5); it contains all customs facilities. Its location, on the site of the original cargo area and east of the terminal core, necessitated the construction of a peoplemover, which connected the terminal core with the new terminal as well as remote rental and parking lots.^[38]

Following deregulation and the buildup of the American and United hubs, O'Hare faced increasing delays from the late 1980s onward due to its inefficient runway layout; the airfield had remained unchanged since the addition of its last new runway (4R/22L) in 1971.^[42] O'Hare's three pairs of angled runways were meant to allow takeoffs into the wind, but they came at a cost: the various intersecting runways were both dangerous and inefficient. Official reports at the end of the 1990s ranked O'Hare as one of the worst-performing airports in the United States based on the percentage of delayed flights.^[43] In 2001, the Chicago Department of Aviation committed to an O'Hare Modernization Plan (OMP). Initially estimated at $6.6 billion, the OMP was to be paid by bonds issued against the increase in the federal passenger facility charge enacted that year and federal airport improvement funds.^[44] The modernization plan was approved by the FAA in October 2005 and involved a complete reconfiguration of the airfield. The OMP included the construction of four new runways, lengthening two existing runways, and decommissioning three old runways to provide O'Hare with six parallel runways and two crosswind runways.^[45]

The OMP was the subject of legal battles, both with suburbs who feared the new layout's noise implications as well as with survivors of persons interred in a cemetery the city proposed to relocate; some of the cases were not resolved until 2011.^[46] These issues, plus the reduction in traffic as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, delayed the OMP's completion; construction of the sixth and final parallel runway (9C/27C) began in 2016.^[47] Its completion in 2020, along with an extension of runway 9R/27L completed in 2021, concluded the OMP.^[48]

Expansion

 

Control tower and Terminals 3 and 2 seen from ATS (Airport Transit System)

In 2018, the city and airlines committed to Phase I of a new Terminal Area Plan dubbed O'Hare 21. The plan was to build two all-new satellite concourses to the southwest of Concourse C, and to expand Terminals 2 and 5 with additional gates, lounges, and updates to operations all over the airport. (Terminal 5 has ten new gates in addition to its newly expanded facilities, plus two additional gates to each accommodate an Airbus A380.)^[49] The expansion will enable same-terminal transfers between international and domestic flights, faster connections, improved facilities and technology for TSA and customs inspections and much larger landside amenities such as shopping and restaurants. A principal feature of the plan is the reorganization of the terminal core into an "alliance hub," the first in North America; airside connections and layout will be optimized around airline alliances. This will be made possible by the construction of the O'Hare Global Terminal (OGT) where Terminal 2 currently stands. The OGT and two new satellite concourses will allow for expansion for both American's and United's international operations as well as easy interchange with their respective Oneworld (American) and Star Alliance (United) partner carriers, eliminating the need to transfer to Terminal 5.

This project will add over 3 million square feet (280,000 m²) to the airport's terminals, add a new customs processing center in the OGT, reconstruct gates and concourses (new concourses will be a minimum of 150 feet (46 m) wide), increase the gate count from 185 to 235, and provide 25% more ramp space at every gate throughout the airport to accommodate larger aircraft.^[50] After an international design competition that featured public voting on five final architectural proposals, the Studio ORD group, led by architect Jeanne Gang (in collaboration with SCB, Corgan, Milhouse, and STL Architect), was selected to design the OGT,^[51][52] while Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP will design Satellites 1 and 2.^[53] By terms of the agreement, total costs of $8.5 billion for the project are to be borne by bonds issued by the city, which will be retired by airport usage fees paid by the airlines. O'Hare 21 is scheduled for completion of the two satellite terminals in 2028, and overall completion in 2030.^[54][55]

Facilities

 

United Airlines Terminal 1, Concourse B

 

American Airlines Terminal 3 Main Hall

Terminals

O'Hare has four numbered passenger terminals with nine lettered concourses and a total of 213 gates.^[56]

• Terminal 1 is used for United Airlines flights, as well as international departures by Lufthansa and All Nippon Airways. It contains 52 gates on two concourses, lettered B–C.^[56]
• Terminal 2 is used for most United Express and some mainline United flights, as well as all Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue flights. It contains 41 gates on two concourses, lettered E–F.^[56]
• Terminal 3 is used for American Airlines and Spirit Airlines flights, as well as international departures by Iberia and Japan Airlines. It contains 80 gates on four concourses, lettered G, H, K, and L.^[56]
• Terminal 5 is used for Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights, as well as all international airlines save for a limited number that depart from Terminals 1–3.^[57][58][59] Terminal 5 is also used for non pre–cleared international arrivals, as it currently contains the airport's sole U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility.^[60] It contains 40 gates on a single concourse, lettered M.

Terminals 1–3 are interconnected airside via a walkway.^[61] Terminal 5 is separated from the other terminals by a set of taxiways that cross over the airport's access road, requiring most passengers to exit security, ride a shuttle bus or take the Airport Transit System and then re–clear security. An additional shuttle bus provides an airside connection from Terminals 1 and 3 to Terminal 5, operating every 15 minutes from 11:30 am to 9:30 pm.^[61]

Runways

O'Hare has two sets of parallel runways, one on either side of the terminal complex. Each airfield has three parallel east–west runways (9L/27R, 9C/27C, and 9R/27L on the north side; 10L/28R, 10C/28C, and 10R/28L on the south side) and a crosswind runway oriented northeast–southwest (4L/22R on the north, 4R/22L on the south). The north crosswind runway, 4L/22R, sees limited usage due to intersecting 9R/27L and 9C/27C;^[62] however, runway 22L is often used for takeoffs during what is called "west flow" on the main runways. The airfield is managed by three FAA air traffic control towers. O'Hare has a voluntary nighttime (22:00–07:00) noise abatement program.^[63] Currently, O'Hare has the most runways of any civilian airport in the world, totaling eight.

Hotel

The Hilton Chicago O'Hare is between the terminal core and parking garage and is currently the only hotel on airport property. It is owned by the Chicago Department of Aviation and operated under an agreement with Hilton Hotels, who extended their agreement with the city by ten years in 2018.^[64]

Ground transportation

The Airport Transit System shuttles passengers between the terminal core (Terminals 1–3), Terminal 5, and the O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility.^[65] The system, which re-opened on November 3, 2021, resumed round-the-clock service starting at 5 a.m. on Monday, April 18, 2022,^[66] after a nearly six-year renovation.^[67] Meanwhile, free shuttle buses also continue to run 24/7 and contribute to congestion, boarding on the upper (departures) level of all terminals. The Bus Shuttle center, located on the ground level of the parking garage between Terminals 1–3 and directly opposite the Hilton Hotel, provides a temporary boarding location for local hotel shuttles and regional public transport buses.^[68] The O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility is the home of all on-airport car rental firms as well as some extended parking.^[69] In addition, the Chicago-area commuter rail system, Metra, has a transfer station of its North Central Service (NCS) located at the northeast corner of the MMF; however, the NCS currently operates an occasional schedule on weekdays only.^[70]

The CTA Blue Line's north terminus is at O'Hare   and provides direct service to downtown via the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway in the Loop and continuing to west suburban Forest Park. Trains depart at intervals ranging from every four to thirty minutes, 24 hours a day.^[71] The station is located on the lower level of the parking garage, and can be accessed directly from Terminals 1–3 via tunnel and from Terminal 5 via shuttle bus.

Pace, Peoria Charter, Van Galder Bus Company, and Wisconsin Coach Lines operate bus service to O'Hare, stopping at the MMF.

O'Hare is directly served by Interstate 190, which offers interchanges with Mannheim Road (U.S. 12 and 45), the Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294), and Interstate 90. I-90 continues as the Kennedy Expressway into downtown Chicago and becomes the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway northwest to Rockford and the Wisconsin state line.

Cargo facilities

There are presently two main cargo areas at O'Hare. The South Cargo Area was relocated in the 1980s from the airport's first air cargo facilities, located east of the terminal core, where Terminal 5 now stands. Many of the structures in this new cargo area then had to be rebuilt, again, to allow for the OMP and specifically runway 10R/28L; as a result, what is now called the South Cargo Area is located between 10R/28L and 10C/28C. This large collection of facilities, in three sections (Southwest, South Central, and Southeast), was established mainly by traditional airline-based air cargo; Air France Cargo, American, JAL Cargo, KLM, Lufthansa Cargo, Northwest and United all built purpose-built, freestanding cargo facilities,^[72] although some of these are now leased out to dedicated cargo firms. In addition, the area contains two separate facilities for shipper FedEx and one for UPS.^[72]

The Northeast Cargo Area (NEC) is a conversion of the former military base (the Douglas plant area) at the northeast corner of the airport property. It is a new facility designed to increase O'Hare's cargo capacity by 50%. Two buildings currently make up the NEC: a 540,000 square feet (50,000 m²) building completed in 2016,^[73] and a 240,000 square feet (22,000 m²) building that was completed in 2017.^[74] A third structure will complete the NEC with another 150,000 square feet (14,000 m²) of warehouse space.^[75]

The current capability of the cargo areas provide 2 million square feet (190,000 m²) of airside cargo space with parking for 40 wide-body freighters matched with over 2 million square feet (190,000 m²) of landside warehousing capability. O'Hare shipped over 1,700,000 tonnes (1,900,000 short tons) in 2018, fifth among airports in the U.S.^[76]

Other facilities

In 2011, O'Hare became the first major airport to build an apiary on its property; every summer, it hosts as many as 75 hives and a million bees. The bees are maintained by 30 to 40 ex-offenders with little to no work experience and few marketable skills; they are primarily recruited from Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood. They are taught beekeeping but also benefit from the bees' labor, turning it into bottled fresh honey, soaps, lip balms, candles and moisturizers marketed under the beelove product line.^[77][78] More than 500 persons have completed the program, transferring to jobs in manufacturing, food processing, customer service, and hospitality; the repeat-offender rate is reported to be less than 10%.^[79]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Refs
Aer Lingus	Dublin	^[80]
Aeroméxico	Guadalajara, Mexico City	^[81]
Air Canada	Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson, Vancouver	^[82]
Air Canada Express	Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson	^[82]
Air France	Paris–Charles de Gaulle	^[83]
Air India	Delhi	^[84]
Air New Zealand	Auckland	^[85]
Air Serbia	Belgrade	^[86]
Alaska Airlines	Anchorage, Boise, Portland (OR), San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma Seasonal: Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo (begins December 23, 2023)^[87]	^[88]^[89]
All Nippon Airways	Tokyo–Haneda, Tokyo–Narita	^[90]
American Airlines	Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Cancún, Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Fort Myers, Hartford, Houston–Intercontinental, Kansas City, Las Vegas, London–Heathrow, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia, Omaha, Orange County (CA), Orlando, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Raleigh/Durham, Reno/Tahoe, Rochester (NY), Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San José del Cabo, San Juan, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa, Tucson, Washington–National, West Palm Beach Seasonal: Anchorage, Aruba, Athens, Barcelona, Bozeman, Buffalo, Calgary, Cleveland, Cozumel, Dublin, Eagle/Vail, El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Glacier Park/Kalispell, Grand Cayman, Guatemala City, Jackson Hole, Key West, Liberia (CR), Montego Bay, Nassau, Palm Springs, Providenciales, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Rome–Fiumicino, St. Thomas, Sarasota, Vancouver, Venice (resumes June 5, 2024)^[91]	^[92]
American Eagle	Albany, Albuquerque, Appleton, Asheville, Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Bangor, Birmingham (AL), Bloomington/Normal, Boise, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Champaign/Urbana, Charleston (SC), Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbia (MO), Columbia (SC),^[93] Columbus–Glenn, Dayton, Des Moines, Detroit, El Paso, Fargo, Fayetteville/Bentonville, Flint, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Hartford, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Jacksonville (FL), Kalamazoo, Kansas City, Key West, Knoxville, La Crosse, Lansing, Lexington, Little Rock, Louisville, Madison, Manhattan (KS), Marquette, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Moline/Quad Cities, Montréal–Trudeau, Mosinee/Wausau, Nashville, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Peoria, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rapid City, Richmond, Rochester (MN), Rochester (NY), St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Sioux Falls, Springfield (IL), Springfield/Branson, State College,^[94] Syracuse, Toronto–Pearson, Traverse City, Tulsa, Waterloo (IA), White Plains, Wichita, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Seasonal: Billings, Bozeman, Burlington (VT), Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Harlingen, Hayden/Steamboat Springs (resumes December 23, 2023),^[95] Hilton Head, Manchester (NH), Martha's Vineyard, Missoula, Myrtle Beach, Nantucket, Newark, Panama City (FL), Pensacola (FL), Portland (ME), Quebec City, Raleigh/Durham, Sarasota, Savannah, Wilmington (NC)	^[92]
Austrian Airlines	Vienna	^[96]
Avianca Costa Rica	Seasonal: Guatemala City, San José (CR) (both begin December 13, 2023)^[97]	^[98]
British Airways	London–Heathrow	^[99]
Cape Air	Manistee	^[100]
Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong^[101]	^[102]
Contour Airlines	Kirksville, Marion, Owensboro	^[103]
Copa Airlines	Panama City–Tocumen	^[104]
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia, Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma	^[105]
Delta Connection	Boston, New York–JFK	^[105]
Denver Air Connection	Ironwood, Watertown	^[106]
Emirates	Dubai–International	^[107]
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa^1	^[108]
Etihad Airways	Abu Dhabi	^[109]
EVA Air	Taipei–Taoyuan	^[110]
Finnair	Seasonal: Helsinki	^[111]
Frontier Airlines	Atlanta, Cancún, Orlando, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Punta Cana	^[112]
Iberia	Madrid	^[113]
Icelandair	Reykjavík–Keflavík	^[114]
ITA Airways	Rome–Fiumicino (begins April 7, 2024)^[115]	^[116]
Japan Airlines	Tokyo–Haneda	^[117]
JetBlue	Boston, New York–JFK	^[118]
KLM	Amsterdam	^[119]
Korean Air	Seoul–Incheon	^[120]
LOT Polish Airlines	Kraków, Warsaw–Chopin	^[121]
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich	^[122]
Qatar Airways	Doha	^[123]
Royal Jordanian	Amman–Queen Alia	^[124]
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen Seasonal: Stockholm–Arlanda	^[125]
Southern Airways Express	Burlington (IA), Muskegon, Quincy	^[126]
Southwest Airlines	Austin, Baltimore, Cancún, Dallas–Love, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Tampa	^[127]
Spirit Airlines	Atlanta, Cancún, Charlotte,^[128] Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Houston–Intercontinental, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York–LaGuardia,^[129] Orlando, San Juan, Tampa Seasonal: Myrtle Beach, Oakland, Phoenix–Sky Harbor	^[130]
Sun Country Airlines	Minneapolis/St. Paul	^[131]
Swiss International Air Lines	Zurich	^[132]
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon	^[133]
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul	^[134]
United Airlines	Albany, Amsterdam, Aruba, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boise, Boston, Bozeman, Brussels, Buffalo, Calgary, Cancún, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Charleston (SC), Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbus–Glenn, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Frankfurt, Grand Rapids, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Hartford, Honolulu, Houston–Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Kahului, Kailua-Kona, Kansas City, Las Vegas, London–Heathrow, Los Angeles, Madison, Memphis, Mexico City, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montego Bay, Munich, Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, New York–LaGuardia, Norfolk, Omaha, Orange County (CA), Orlando, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Rochester (NY), Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), San José del Cabo, San Juan, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Sarasota, Seattle/Tacoma, Sioux Falls, Syracuse, Tampa, Tel Aviv (suspended), Tokyo–Haneda, Toronto–Pearson, Tulum (begins March 23, 2024),^[135] Vancouver, Washington–Dulles, Washington–National, West Palm Beach, Zurich Seasonal: Albuquerque, Anchorage, Barcelona, Belize City, Burlington (VT), Cozumel, Dublin, Eagle/Vail, Edinburgh, El Paso, Fairbanks, Fresno, Glacier Park/Kalispell, Grand Cayman, Guatemala City, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Jackson Hole, Jacksonville (FL), Key West (begins December 21, 2023),^[136] Liberia (CR), Louisville, Milan–Malpensa, Montrose, Myrtle Beach, Nassau, Palm Springs, Panama City (FL), Pensacola (FL), Portland (ME), Providence, Providenciales, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Rapid City, Reno/Tahoe, Reykjavík–Keflavík, Rome–Fiumicino, St. Lucia–Hewanorra, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San José (CR), Savannah, Shannon, Spokane, Traverse City, Tucson, Wichita	^[137]
United Express	Akron/Canton, Albany, Albuquerque, Allentown, Appleton, Asheville, Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Bangor, Birmingham (AL), Bismarck, Boise, Boston, Buffalo, Burlington (VT), Calgary, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Charleston (SC), Charleston (WV), Charlotte, Charlottesville (VA), Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbia (SC), Columbus–Glenn, Dallas/Fort Worth, Dayton, Decatur, Des Moines, Detroit, Duluth, El Paso, Fargo, Fayetteville/Bentonville, Flint, Fort Dodge, Fort Wayne, Fresno, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Hartford, Houghton, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Jacksonville (FL), Johnstown (PA), Joplin, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lexington, Lincoln, Little Rock, Louisville, Madison, Mason City, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Moline/Quad Cities, Monterrey, Montréal–Trudeau, Nashville, New Orleans, New York–LaGuardia, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ottawa, Pensacola (FL), Peoria, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Providence, Rapid City, Richmond, Roanoke, Rochester (NY), Saginaw, St. Louis, Salina, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Sarasota, Savannah, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, South Bend, Springfield/Branson, State College, Syracuse, Toronto–Pearson, Traverse City, Tucson, Tulsa, Washington–Dulles, Washington–National, Wichita, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Seasonal: Fresno, Glacier Park/Kalispell, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Hilton Head, Key West, Missoula, Montrose, Myrtle Beach, Palm Springs, Panama City (FL), Reno/Tahoe, Sun Valley	^[137]
Viva Aerobus	Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexico City, Monterrey, Morelia Seasonal: Zacatecas	^[138]
Volaris	Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexico City, Morelia, Querétaro Seasonal: Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Puerto Vallarta	^[139]
Volaris El Salvador	Guatemala City, San Salvador	^[140]
WestJet	Seasonal: Calgary	^[141]

Notes:

• ^1 : Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to O'Hare stops at Rome–Fiumicino,^[142] but the flight from O'Hare to Addis Ababa is non-stop.

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations	Refs
AeroLogic	Frankfurt
AeroUnion	Mexico City
AirBridgeCargo	Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston–Intercontinental, Luxembourg, Moscow–Domodedovo (all suspended)	^[143]
Air China Cargo	Anchorage, Beijing–Capital, Frankfurt, New York–JFK, Shanghai–Pudong, Tianjin
Air France Cargo	Dublin, Glasgow–Prestwick, New York–JFK, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
ANA Cargo	Tokyo–Narita	^[144]
Asiana Cargo	Anchorage, Atlanta, New York–JFK, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul–Incheon
ASL Airlines Belgium	Liège
Atlas Air	Anchorage, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Miami, Seoul–Incheon	^[145]
Cargolux	Anchorage, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Hong Kong, Indianapolis, Kuala Lumpur–International, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, New York–JFK, Singapore, Zhengzhou
Cathay Cargo	Anchorage, Hong Kong, New York–JFK, Portland (OR)
China Airlines Cargo	Anchorage, Houston–Intercontinental, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Taipei–Taoyuan
China Cargo Airlines	Anchorage, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Shanghai–Pudong
China Southern Cargo	Guangzhou, Shanghai–Pudong	^[146]
DHL Aviation	Anchorage, Calgary, Cincinnati, Newark, New York–JFK
Emirates SkyCargo	Dubai–Al Maktoum, Maastricht/Aachen	^[147]
EVA Air Cargo	Anchorage, Dallas/Fort Worth, Taipei–Taoyuan
FedEx Express	Fort Worth/Alliance, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, Newark, Omaha, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma
Korean Air Cargo	Anchorage, Halifax, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Toronto–Pearson
LATAM Cargo Chile	Campinas	^[148]
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Cargo	Anchorage, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Los Angeles, Manchester (UK), Mexico City, New York–JFK	^[149]
Martinair	Oslo
Nippon Cargo Airlines	Anchorage, Dallas/Fort Worth, Edmonton, Los Angeles, New York–JFK	^[150]^[151]
Qantas Freight	Anchorage, Auckland, Chongqing, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney	^[152]^[153]^[154]^[155]
Qatar Airways Cargo	Amsterdam, Doha, Los Angeles, Milan–Malpensa, Ostend/Bruges,^[156] Singapore	^[157]^[158]^[159]^[160]
Silk Way Airlines	Baku	^[161]
Singapore Airlines Cargo	Anchorage, Atlanta, Brussels, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Seattle/Tacoma	^[162]
Suparna Airlines	Anchorage, Shanghai–Pudong
Turkish Cargo	Istanbul, Maastricht/Aachen, Shannon, Toronto–Pearson	^[163]^[164]
UPS Airlines	Cologne/Bonn, Columbus–Rickenbacker, Dallas/Fort Worth, Louisville, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland (OR)

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from ORD (July 2022 – June 2023)^[165]

Rank	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1	Los Angeles, California	1,179,000	American, Spirit, United
2	New York–LaGuardia, New York	1,149,000	American, Delta, United
3	Denver, Colorado	986,000	American, Southwest, United
4	Orlando, Florida	862,000	American, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, United
5	San Francisco, California	830,000	Alaska, American, United
6	Las Vegas, Nevada	825,000	American, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, United
7	Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona	793,000	American, Southwest, Spirit, United
8	Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas	792,000	American, Spirit, United
9	Newark, New Jersey	784,000	American, United
10	Atlanta, Georgia	773,000	American, Delta, Frontier, Spirit, United

Busiest international routes from ORD (October 2021 – September 2022)^[166]

Rank	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1	Cancún, Mexico	879,935	American, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, United
2	London–Heathrow, United Kingdom	747,365	American, British Airways, United
3	Mexico City, Mexico	619,201	Aeroméxico, United, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
4	Toronto–Pearson, Canada	495,230	Air Canada, American, Flair, Swoop, United, WestJet
5	Frankfurt, Germany	485,168	Lufthansa, United
6	Delhi, India	359,623	Air India, United
7	Munich, Germany	341,806	Lufthansa, United
8	Dublin, Ireland	337,527	Aer Lingus, American, United
9	Istanbul, Turkey	337,440	Turkish
10	Guadalajara, Mexico	327,223	Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus, Volaris

Airline market share

Top airlines at ORD
(July 2022 – June 2023)^[165]

Rank	Airline	Passengers	Percent of market share
1	United Airlines	21,992,000	38.33%
2	American Airlines	14,052,000	24.49%
3	SkyWest Airlines	4,620,000	8.05%
4	Envoy Air	3,690,000	6.43%
5	Spirit	2,538,000	4.42%
	Other	10,479,000	18.27%

Annual traffic

Annual passenger traffic at ORD airport. See Wikidata query.

Traffic by calendar year^[167]

Year	Passenger volume	Change over previous year	Aircraft operations	Cargo tonnage
2000	72,144,244	00.64%	908,989	1,640,524
2001	67,448,064	06.51%	911,917	1,413,834
2002	66,565,952	01.31%	922,817	1,436,386
2003	69,508,672	04.40%	928,691	1,601,736
2004	75,533,822	08.67%	992,427	1,685,808
2005	76,581,146	01.38%	972,248	1,701,446
2006	76,282,212	00.30%	958,643	1,718,011
2007	76,182,025	00.15%	926,973	1,690,742
2008	70,819,015	07.03%	881,566	1,480,847
2009	64,397,782	09.07%	827,899	1,198,426
2010	67,026,191	03.83%	882,617	1,577,048
2011	66,790,996	00.35%	878,798	1,505,218
2012	66,834,931	00.04%	878,108	1,443,569
2013	66,909,638	00.12%	883,287	1,434,377
2014	70,075,204	04.45%	881,933	1,578,330
2015	76,949,336	09.81%	875,136	1,742,501
2016	77,960,588	01.31%	867,635	1,726,362
2017	79,828,183	02.40%	867,049	1,950,137
2018	83,339,186^[168]	04.40%	903,747	1,868,880
2019	84,649,115	01.69%	919,704	1,788,001
2020	30,860,251	063.54%	538,211	2,052,025
2021	54,020,399	075.06%	684,201	2,536,576
2022	68,340,619	026.50%	711,561	2,235,709

On-time performance (domestic major U.S. carriers only)

On-time performance by calendar year^[165]

Year	Percent of on- time departures	Percent of on- time arrivals	Average departure delay (min)	Average arrival delay (min)	Percent of cancelled flights
2017	79%	81%	69.43	77.38	1.40%
2018	77%	77%	69.15	77.91	2.14%
2019	75%	75%	73.69	86.01	3.11%
2020	84%	85%	65.36	78.36	6.18%
2021	81%	82%	70.40	82.42	1.93%
2022	78%	79%	70.26	80.29	2.75%

Major accidents and incidents

The following is a list of major crashes or incidents that occurred to planes at O'Hare, on approach, or just after takeoff from the airport:^[169]

• On September 17, 1961, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed upon takeoff, killing all 37 on board.^[170]
• On August 16, 1965, United Airlines Flight 389, a Boeing 727, crashed 30 miles (48 km) east of O'Hare while on approach, killing all 30 on board.^[171]
• On December 27, 1968, North Central Airlines Flight 458, a Convair CV-580, crashed into a hangar at O'Hare, killing 27 on board and one on the ground.^[172]
• On December 20, 1972, North Central Airlines Flight 575, a Douglas DC-9, crashed upon takeoff after colliding with Delta Airlines Flight 954, a Convair CV-880 which was taxiing across the active runway; 10 passengers on the DC-9 were killed.^[173]
• On May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 on a Memorial Day weekend flight to Los Angeles International Airport, had its left engine detach while taking off from runway 32R, then stalled and crashed into a field some 4,600 feet (1,400 m) away. 273 died, including two on the ground, in the deadliest single-aircraft crash in United States history, and the worst aviation disaster in U.S. history prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[174][175]
• On March 19, 1982, a United States Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crashed upon approach to O'Hare 40 miles (64 km) northwest of the city (near Woodstock), killing 27 people on board.^[176]
• On February 9, 1998, American Airlines Flight 1340, a Boeing 727, crashed upon landing from Kansas City, injuring 22 passengers.^[177]
• On October 28, 2016, American Airlines Flight 383 aborted takeoff on runway 28R after a fire broke out in the right engine of the Boeing 767-300ER; 20 passengers and one flight attendant were injured.^[178]
• On April 9, 2017, a passenger was forced off of a Republic-operated United Express flight in Chicago bound for Louisville. The passenger was escorted off the flight by Chicago Department of Aviation officers after he refused to give up his seat to an airline employee. He attempted to run back onto the aircraft but was removed. A video posted on social media showing him being injured and dragged off the plane led to a public outcry.

See also

• List of the world's busiest airports, for a complete list of the busiest airports in the world
• List of airports in Illinois
• Chicago Union Station

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•   This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links

• Official website
• O'Hare Modernization Program, City of Chicago
• Council Ordinance authorizing ORD21 (with TAP attached, O2018-1124 (V1).pdf), City of Chicago
• , Northwest Chicago Historical Society
• The Fascinating History of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport: , ,
• Olson, William (January 4, 2010). "Sustainable Airport Design Takes Flight: The O'Hare Modernization Program". GreenBeanChicago.com.
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective November 2, 2023
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KORD
  • ASN accident history for ORD
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KORD
  • FAA current ORD delay information
• Live KORD airplane map radar
• Pate, R. Hewitt (Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division); McDonald, Bruce (Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division); Gillespie, William H. (Economist) (May 24, 2005). "Congestion And Delay Reduction at Chicago O'Hare International Airport: Docket No. FAA-2005-20704". Comments of The United States Department of Justice. Before The Federal Aviation Administration Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 2, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

• O'Hare International Airport aviation weather (in Spanish, English, French, and Chinese)