O'Hare International Airport

History

Establishment and defense efforts

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.

O'Hare began as a manufacturing plant for Douglas C-54 Skymasters during World War II and adjoining Douglas Field Airport. The site was originally known as a small German-American farming community known as Orchard Place. The 2 e6sqft plant, in the northeast corner of what is now the airport, needed easy access to the workforce of Chicago—the nation's second-largest city at the time, as well as needing 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 5500 ft runways. This was also the location of the Army Air Force's 803rd Specialized Depot, 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.

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. With the departure of Douglas, the complex took the name Orchard (Douglas) Airport, and was assigned the IATA code ORD. The only remaining building of the Douglas Aircraft Factory is the Administration building now used by the City of Chicago, Department of Aviation.

The United States Air Force used the old Douglas Field apron 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. 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. 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 site came under the ownership of the Chicago Department of Aviation and made way for the O'Hare Modernization Plan (OMP).

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.

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. O'Hare was the site of the world's first jet bridge in 1958, 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. However, its IATA code (ORD) remained unchanged, resulting in O'Hare being one of the few IATA codes bearing no connection to the airport's name or metropolitan area.

Arrival of passenger service and subsequent growth

Scheduled passenger service began in 1955, 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. 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 acre with new hangars, terminals, parking and other facilities. The expressway link to downtown Chicago, now known as the Kennedy Expressway, was completed in 1960. New Terminals2 and3, designed by C. F. Murphy and Associates, opened on January 1, 1962.

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. Midway, a square 1 mi on each side, 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; The 8000 ft runway 14R/32L opened in 1956 and was extended to 11600 ft 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

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. 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. 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. Delta maintained an O'Hare hub for some time, even commissioning a new ConcourseL in 1983. 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 dominant hubs established at O'Hare in the 1980s by United and American continue to operate today. United developed a new two-concourse Terminal1 (dubbed "The Terminal for Tomorrow"), designed by Helmut Jahn. It was built between 1985 and 1987 on the site of the original Terminal1; the structure, which includes 50 gates, is best known for its curved glass forms and the connecting underground tunnel between ConcoursesB andC. 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. American renovated and expanded its existing facilities in Terminal3 from 1987 to 1990; those renovations feature a flag-lined entrance hall to ConcoursesH/K.

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 "Terminal4" on the ground floor of the airport's central parking garage. International passengers were then transferred by bus to and from their aircraft. Relocation finally ended with the completion of the 21-gate International Terminal in 1993 (now called Terminal5); 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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. These issues, plus the reduction in traffic as a result of the Great Recession, delayed the OMP's completion; construction of the sixth and final parallel runway (9C/27C) began in 2016. Its completion in 2020, along with an extension of runway 9R/27L completed in 2021, concluded the OMP.

Expansion

In 2018, the city and airlines committed to PhaseI of a new Terminal Area Plan dubbed O'Hare 21. The plan calls for 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.) 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 Terminal2 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.

The project will add over 3 e6sqft 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 ft 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. 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, while Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP will design Satellites1 and2. 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 airlines. O'Hare 21 is scheduled for completion of the two satellite terminals in 2028, and overall completion in 2030.

By November 2023, the project's cost had ballooned far over budget, leading both American Airlines and United Airlines to call for the global terminal project to be cancelled or scaled back. On May 3, 2024, American Airlines and United Airlines were able to reach an agreement with the City of Chicago to allow the project to continue. In the agreement, the replacement of Terminal 2 would be accelerated, while the addition of Satellite 2 concourse would be delayed. The replacement of Terminal 2 with the OGT was deemed more critical to complete first instead of the Satellite 2 concourse. The design of Satellite 1 concourse was presented to the public on May 29, 2024, it was planned to complete Satellite 1 concourse by 2028.

Facilities

Terminals

O'Hare has four numbered passenger terminals with nine lettered concourses and a total of 215 gates.

• Terminal 1 is used for United Airlines, Lufthansa and All Nippon Airways flights. It has 52 gates on two concourses, lettered B and C.
• Terminal 2 is used for most United Express and some United flights, as well as all Air Canada and JetBlue flights. It has 41 gates on two concourses, lettered E and F.
• Terminal 3 is used for American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and some United Airlines flights. It has 80 gates on four concourses, lettered G, H, K, and L.
• Terminal 5 is used for Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights, as well as all international airlines that do not depart from Terminals 1–3. Terminal 5 is also used for non-precleared international arrivals, as it currently contains the airport's U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. It has 35 non-sequential gates on a single concourse with the highest number being 40, lettered M. There are 3 gates in this terminal that can accommodate an Airbus A380, the largest commercial airplane in the world.

Terminals 1–3 are connected airside via a walkway. Terminal 5 is separated from the others by taxiways and does not have a walkway between it and Terminals 1–3; passengers transferring between Terminal 5 and the others can only do so landside via a shuttle bus or the Airport Transit System, requiring rescreening at security, or via an airside shuttle bus that runs between Terminal 5 and Terminals 1 and 3 every 15 minutes from 11:30 am to 9:30 pm.

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; 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.

In 2015, runway 32R/14L was permanently closed after 72 years of service, in favor of the new runway 10R/28L. In 2019, runway 32L/14R was also closed.

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.

Ground transportation

The Airport Transit System shuttles passengers between the terminal core (Terminals 1–3), Terminal 5, and the O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility (MMF). The system, which re-opened on November 3, 2021, resumed round-the-clock service starting at 5 a.m. on Monday, April 18, 2022,{{cite web|url= https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/doa/provdrs/dbata/news/2022/april/04142022.html | title=O'Hare Airport Transit System (ATS) Returns To 24-Hour Service - Chicago Department of Aviation | publisher=Chicago.gov

The CTA Blue Line's north terminus is at 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. The station is located on the lower level of the parking garage, and can be accessed directly from Terminals1–3 via tunnel and from Terminal5 via shuttle bus.

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

Airline shuttle buses

American Airlines offers "tarmac-to-tarmac" bus service between O'Hare and several airports within close proximity, which are considered too close for flights to be economically feasible. This is designed to facilitate connections through O'Hare, a major international hub for American Airlines. Passengers check their bags and clear security at their respective airport, and board a motorcoach that takes them directly to a gate past security at O'Hare. The service is operated by the Landline Company, and is booked through the regular American Airlines reservation system.

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 Terminal5 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, 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.

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 540000 sqft building completed in 2016, and a 240000 sqft building that was completed in 2017. A third structure will complete the NEC with another 150000 sqft of warehouse space.

The current capability of the cargo areas provide 2 e6sqft of airside cargo space with parking for 40 wide-body freighters matched with over 2 e6sqft of landside warehousing capability. O'Hare shipped over 1700000 t in 2018, fifth among airports in the U.S.

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. 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%.

The CDA's Airport Airfield Operations section is based out of the 150 ft tall prototype tower architect I.M. Pei designed for the FAA in the 1960s-1970s.

Resthaven Cemetery, which predates the airport, is situated across from the FedEx facility. Over 300 people are interred at Resthaven, which was allowed to remain on the airport grounds post-OMP while another cemetery, St. Johannes, had to be relocated.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

| Aer Lingus | Dublin | | Aeroméxico | Guadalajara, Mexico City | | Air Canada | Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson, Vancouver | | Air Canada Express | Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Billy Bishop (begins June 1, 2026), Toronto–Pearson | | Air France | Paris–Charles de Gaulle | | Air India | Delhi | | Air Serbia | Belgrade | | Alaska Airlines | Portland (OR), San Diego, Seattle/Tacoma Seasonal: Anchorage | | All Nippon Airways | Tokyo–Haneda, Tokyo–Narita | | American Airlines | Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Cancún, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Honolulu, Houston–Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, London–Heathrow, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Montego Bay, New Orleans, New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia, Newark, Orange County (CA), Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Portland (OR), Punta Cana, Raleigh/Durham, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San José del Cabo, San Juan, Seattle/Tacoma, Spokane, Tampa, Tucson, Washington–National, West Palm Beach Seasonal: Anchorage, Aruba, Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Boise, Bozeman, Buffalo, Calgary, Charleston (SC), Cincinnati, Cozumel, Curaçao Liberia (CR), Madrid, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Naples, Nashville, Nassau, Omaha, Palm Springs, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Pittsburgh, Providence, Providenciales, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro Vancouver | | American Eagle | Akron/Canton, Albany, Allentown (begins May 21, 2026), Appleton, Asheville, Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Bangor, Birmingham (AL), Bismarck, Bloomington/Normal, Boise, Boston, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Champaign, Charleston (SC), Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbia (MO), Columbia (SC) (begins May 21, 2026), Columbus–Glenn, Dayton, Des Moines, Detroit, El Paso, Erie (begins May 22, 2026), Evansville, Fargo, Fayetteville/Bentonville, Flint, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Hartford, Houston–Intercontinental, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Jacksonville (FL), Kalamazoo, Kansas City, Knoxville, La Crosse, Lansing, Lewisburg (WV), Lexington, Little Rock, Louisville, Madison, Manhattan (KS), Marquette, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Moline/Quad Cities, Montréal–Trudeau, Mosinee/Wausau, Nashville, New Orleans, New York–JFK, Newark, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Peoria, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Rapid City, Richmond, Roanoke, Sioux Falls, Springfield (IL), Springfield/Branson, Syracuse, Toronto–Pearson, Traverse City, Tri-Cities (TN) (begins May 22, 2026), Tulsa, Waterloo (IA), White Plains, Wichita, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Seasonal: Albuquerque, Billings, Bozeman, Burlington (VT), Calgary, Dallas/Fort Worth, Halifax, Denver, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Hilton Head, Hyannis, Idaho Falls, Key West, Manchester (NH), Martha's Vineyard, Missoula, Myrtle Beach, Nantucket, Panama City (FL), Pensacola, Portland (ME), Québec City, Santa Fe, Sarasota, Savannah, Sun Valley, Washington–National, Wilmington (NC) | | Arajet | Punta Cana | | Austrian Airlines | Vienna | | Avelo Airlines |Seasonal: New Haven | | Avianca | Bogotá | | Avianca Costa Rica | Seasonal: Guatemala City, San José (CR) | | Avianca El Salvador | Seasonal: San Salvador | | British Airways | London–Heathrow | | Cathay Pacific | Hong Kong | | Contour Airlines | Burlington (IA), Cape Girardeau, Fort Leonard Wood, Kirksville, Manistee, Marion, Owensboro, Quincy | | Copa Airlines | Panama City–Tocumen | | Delta Air Lines | Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles (begins June 7, 2026), Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–LaGuardia, Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma | | Delta Connection | New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia | | Denver Air Connection | Dubuque, Ironwood, Jackson (TN), Muskegon| | Emirates | Dubai–International | | Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa | | Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi | | EVA Air | Taipei–Taoyuan | | Finnair | Seasonal: Helsinki | | Frontier Airlines | Atlanta, Austin, Cancún, Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami (begins February 13, 2026), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York–JFK, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Punta Cana, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Sarasota, Seasonal: Baltimore | | HiSky | Bucharest–Otopeni (begins June 4, 2026) | | Iberia | Madrid | | Icelandair | Reykjavík–Keflavík | | ITA Airways | Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino | | Japan Airlines | Tokyo–Haneda, Tokyo–Narita | | JetBlue | Boston, New York–JFK | | KLM | Amsterdam | | Korean Air | Seoul–Incheon | | LOT Polish Airlines | Kraków, Warsaw–Chopin | | Lufthansa | Frankfurt, Munich | | Qatar Airways | Doha | | Royal Jordanian | Amman–Queen Alia | | Scandinavian Airlines | Copenhagen | | Southwest Airlines | Austin, Cancún, Dallas–Love, Denver, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Punta Cana (begins June 4, 2026), San Juan (begins June 4, 2026), Tampa Seasonal: Fort Lauderdale (resumes March 5, 2026), Myrtle Beach (begins June 6, 2026), Panama City (FL) (begins April 9, 2026) | | Spirit Airlines | Cancún, Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York–LaGuardia, Newark, Orlando, San Juan, Tampa Seasonal: Myrtle Beach, | | Sun Country Airlines | Minneapolis/St. Paul | | Swiss International Air Lines | Zurich | | TAP Air Portugal | Lisbon | | Turkish Airlines | Istanbul | | United Airlines | Albany, Albuquerque, Amsterdam, Aruba, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Bozeman, Brussels, Buffalo, Burlington (VT), Calgary, Cancún, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Charleston (SC), Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus–Glenn, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Dublin, Eugene (resumes April 30, 2026), Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Frankfurt, Grand Rapids, Guatemala City, Harrisburg, Hartford, Honolulu, Houston–Intercontinental, Jacksonville (FL), Kahului, Kansas City, Las Vegas, London–Heathrow, Los Angeles, Madison, Memphis, Mexico City, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montego Bay, Munich, Nashville, New Orleans, New York–LaGuardia, Newark, Norfolk, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County (CA), Orlando, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Pensacola, Philadelphia, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Raleigh/Durham, Reno/Tahoe, Richmond, Rochester (NY), Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San José del Cabo, San Juan, Santa Barbara (begins April 6, 2026), São Paulo–Guarulhos, Sarasota, Savannah, Seattle/Tacoma, Sioux Falls, Syracuse, Tampa, Tel Aviv, Tokyo–Haneda, Toronto–Pearson, Traverse City, Vancouver, Washington–Dulles, Washington–National, Wichita, Zurich Seasonal: Anchorage, Athens, Barcelona, Belize City, Boise, Colorado Springs, Cozumel, Dayton, Eagle/Vail, Edinburgh, Edmonton, Fairbanks, Fresno, Glacier Park/Kalispell, Grand Cayman, Greenville/Spartanburg, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Indianapolis, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Jackson Hole, Kailua-Kona, Key West, Knoxville, Liberia (CR), Milan–Malpensa,Montréal–Trudeau, Montrose, Myrtle Beach, Nassau, Palm Springs, Panama City (FL), Providence, Providenciales, Rapid City, Reykjavík–Keflavík, St. Lucia–Hewanorra, Sint Maarten, St. Thomas, San José (CR), San Jose (CA), Shannon, Tucson, West Palm Beach | | United Express | Akron/Canton, Albany, Allentown, Appleton, Asheville, Billings, Birmingham (AL), Bloomington/Normal (begins May 7, 2026), Boise, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Champaign (resumes April 30, 2026), Charleston (SC), Charleston (WV), Charlottesville (VA), Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Clarksburg (resumes April 14, 2026), Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbia (MO), Columbia (SC), Columbus–Glenn, Dayton, Decatur, Des Moines, Detroit, Duluth, Eau Claire, El Paso, Erie (begins June 1, 2026), Fargo, Fayetteville/Bentonville, Flint, Fort Dodge, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Houghton, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Johnstown (PA), Joplin, Kalamazoo (resumes April 30, 2026), Kansas City, Kearney (resumes April 30, 2026), Knoxville, La Crosse (begins May 7, 2026), Lancaster (PA) (begins March 1, 2026), Lansing (resumes May 7, 2026), Lexington, Lincoln, Little Rock, Louisville, Lynchburg (begins March 24, 2026), Madison, Marquette (resumes May 21, 2026), Mason City, Memphis, Milwaukee, Moline/Quad Cities, Monterrey, Montréal–Trudeau, Morgantown (WV), Mosinee/Wausau (begins May 21, 2026), Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ottawa, Paducah (resumes February 24, 2026), Peoria, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Providence, Richmond, Roanoke, Rochester (MN) (resumes April 30, 2026), Rochester (NY), Saginaw, St. Louis, Salina, Savannah, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, South Bend, Springfield/Branson, State College, Syracuse, Toronto–Pearson, Traverse City, Tri-Cities (TN) (begins June 8, 2026), Tucson, Tulsa, Watertown (SD), West Lafayette (IN), Wichita, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Winnipeg Seasonal: Albuquerque, Aspen, Bangor, Bozeman, Burlington (VT), Charlotte, Cody (resumes April 30, 2026),{{cite web |title=United NS26 North America Network Additions – 19JAN26 | Viva | Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexico City, Monterrey, Morelia | | Volaris | Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexico City, Morelia, Querétaro | | WestJet | Seasonal: Calgary, Edmonton |

Cargo

| AeroLogic | Frankfurt | | AirBridgeCargo | Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston–Intercontinental, Luxembourg (all suspended) | | Air Canada Cargo | Toronto–Pearson | | 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 | | ASL Airlines Belgium | Liège | | Atlas Air | Amsterdam, Anchorage, Cincinnati, Dallas/Fort Worth, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Liège, Miami, Milan–Malpensa, New York–JFK, Seoul–Incheon, Stuttgart, Tokyo–Narita | | Avianca Cargo México | Mexico City–AIFA | | 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, Nagoya–Centrair, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Taipei–Taoyuan | | China Cargo Airlines | Anchorage, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Shanghai–Pudong | | China Southern Cargo | Guangzhou, Shanghai–Pudong | | DHL Aviation | Anchorage, Calgary, Cincinnati, Newark, New York–JFK | | Emirates SkyCargo | Copenhagen, Dubai–Al Maktoum, Maastricht/Aachen, Miami | | Etihad Cargo | Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt | | EVA Air Cargo | Anchorage, Dallas/Fort Worth, Taipei–Taoyuan | | FedEx Express | Appleton, Fort Worth/Alliance, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, Newark, Oakland, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma | | Korean Air Cargo | Anchorage, Halifax, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul–Incheon, Toronto–Pearson | | LATAM Cargo Chile | Campinas | | LOT Polish Airlines | Warsaw–Chopin | | Lufthansa Cargo | Anchorage, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Los Angeles, Manchester (UK), Mexico City–AIFA, New York–JFK | | Martinair | Oslo | | MSC Air Cargo | Indianapolis, Liège | | Nippon Cargo Airlines | Anchorage, Dallas/Fort Worth, Edmonton, Los Angeles, New York–JFK | | Qantas Freight | Anchorage, Auckland, Chongqing, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney | | Qatar Airways Cargo | Amsterdam, Brussels, Doha, Los Angeles, Milan–Malpensa, Ostend/Bruges, Singapore | | Silk Way Airlines | Baku | | Singapore Airlines Cargo | Anchorage, Atlanta, Brussels, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Seattle/Tacoma | | Suparna Airlines | Anchorage, Shanghai–Pudong | | Turkish Cargo | Istanbul, Maastricht/Aachen, Shannon, Toronto–Pearson | | UPS Airlines | Cologne/Bonn, Columbus–Rickenbacker, Dallas/Fort Worth, Louisville, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland (OR) |

Statistics

Top destinations

Airline market share

Annual traffic

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

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:

• On September 17, 1961, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed upon takeoff, killing all 37 on board.
• On August 16, 1965, United Airlines Flight 389, a Boeing 727, crashed into Lake Michigan, 30 mi east of O'Hare while on approach, killing all 30 on board.
• 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.
• On December 20, 1972, North Central Airlines Flight 575, a Douglas DC-9, crashed upon takeoff after colliding with Delta Air Lines Flight 954, a Convair CV-880 which was taxiing across the active runway; 10 passengers on the DC-9 were killed.
• 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 4600 ft 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.
• On March 19, 1982, a United States Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crashed upon approach to O'Hare 40 mi northwest of the city (near Woodstock), killing 27 people on board.
• On February 9, 1998, American Airlines Flight 1340, a Boeing 727, crashed upon landing from Kansas City, injuring 22 passengers.
• On July 23, 2006, there was a near miss involving United Airlines Flight 1015, a Boeing 737-322, and Atlas Air Flight 6972, a Boeing 747-47UF. All 131 occupants survived without injury.
• 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.
• On June 13, 2022, a particularly intense supercell coincided with the landing of American Airlines Flight 151 from Paris Charles de Gaulle, which caused extreme turbulence where ground ASOS reported a record-tying wind gust of 84 mph. One passenger was physically removed from their seat as a result, suffering severe injuries. The passenger was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the incident. A lawsuit against the airline was filed in 2024.

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