Flights Washington → Chicago
IAD → ORD
Route overview
The flight route from Washington to Chicago operates with a high level of punctuality, achieving an on-time performance rate of 84%. Over the course of the year, it has recorded a mean delay of 13.9 minutes per flight, with a total of 441 flights conducted using various aircraft models including Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Boeing 757-200, Boeing 757-300, Boeing 737-900, and Boeing 737-800. The destination airport sees an annual passenger traffic of 80,071,737, highlighting its significance as a major travel hub.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Washington (IAD) → Chicago (ORD) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 565 flights monitored in recent months, 82% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 14 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.42%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 24.7/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Washington (IAD) to Chicago (ORD) heads north-west for about 945 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 36m.
Departures from Washington on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 30% of IAD-ORD flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 565 tracked IAD-ORD flights, 82% left on time with an average delay of 14 min and a 1.4% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
Check the risk of a specific flight.
Flexible on this trip? Compare flights
Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
Airlines operating IAD-ORD
Airports
Frequently asked questions about IAD-ORD
On the Washington (IAD) -> Chicago (ORD) route, on-time performance is 82% with an average delay of 14 minutes, based on 565 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Washington-Chicago is 1.42% across 565 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Chicago, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
