O’Hare International Airport Statistics

O'Hare International Airport handles over 80 million passengers annually.

• Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) handled 84.86 million passengers in 2025, a 6.0% increase³ from 80.07 million in 2024⁴ and continuing its strong post-pandemic growth.
• Passenger levels were 84.65 million in 2019⁵ and fell to 30.86 million in 2020 at the height of the pandemic⁶.
• Traffic then rebounded to 54.02 million in 2021, 68.34 million in 2022, and 73.90 million in 2023.⁴

International vs Domestic Passengers

O'Hare maintains a heavily domestic-focused passenger profile, though international traffic represents a notable portion of operations.

• In 2025, domestic travel accounted for 70.01 million passengers (82.5% of the total)³, underscoring ORD’s role as a national hub.
• International passengers numbered 14.85 million (17.5%)³, a segment that continues to expand.

O'Hare records over 700,000 aircraft movements annually, making it the busiest airport in the world for flight operations¹.

• ORD recorded 857,392 aircraft movements in 2025, a 10.5% increase over 2024³ (776,036 movements)⁷.
• Activity is about 93% of the 2019 pre-pandemic peak of 919,704 movements⁵.
• Operations dropped to 538,211 in 2020 before recovering to 684,201 in 2021 and 711,561 in 2022.⁴
• Activity continued to rise, reaching 720,582 operations in 2023.⁴

Aircraft Operations by Type

• The majority of operations at ORD airport in 2025 were conducted by air carriers in both domestic and international segments, totaling 722,553 and 85,879 respectively³.
• Moreover, cargo operators accounted for 12,292 and 17,662 movements respectively³.
• General aviation accounted for 10,264 domestic operations, while the domestic miscellaneous segment recorded only 8,742 movements³.

United and American Airlines together carry about 62% of passengers on U.S. flights at O'Hare.⁸ The figures count the airline that operates each flight, so regional carriers such as SkyWest and Envoy Air, which fly United Express and American Eagle routes, are listed separately.

• Between July 2025 and June 2026, United Airlines led with 27.14 million passengers, a 38.89% share.⁸
• American Airlines followed with 15.87 million passengers and a 22.75% share.⁸
• Regional carriers SkyWest (6.93 million passengers, 9.93%) and Envoy Air (5.89 million, 8.44%) ranked third and fourth.⁸
• Delta Air Lines carried 2.41 million passengers, a 3.45% share; all other airlines together accounted for 16.53%.⁸

Domestic Destinations

• The most popular domestic destination from O'Hare International Airport (ORD) in 2025 was New York LaGuardia (1.39 million passengers)¹⁶.
• Los Angeles (1.16 million) and Denver (1.03 million)¹⁶ are the next most traveled routes.
• San Francisco (965,000) and Dallas/Fort Worth (934,000)¹⁶ round out the top five destinations.

International Destinations

• London, United Kingdom (LHR), with 1.04 million passengers¹⁷, was the most popular international destination from O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in 2025, counting nonstop passengers in both directions.
• Pearson-Toronto, Canada (YYZ) and Cancún, Mexico (CUN) follow with 879,521 and 761,054 passengers, respectively¹⁷.
• Mexico City, Mexico (740,772) and Frankfurt, Germany (707,240)¹⁷ complete the top five international destinations.

O'Hare International Airport is a premier global air cargo hub handling over 2 million metric tons of cargo annually.

• ORD processed 2.13 million metric tons of cargo in 2025³, ranking fifth in North America by tonnage¹ and first by cargo value¹⁸.
• Volumes were 1.79 million metric tons in 2019⁵, rising to 2.00 million in 2020⁶ and reaching a record 2.54 million in 2021¹⁹.
• Cargo throughput then totaled 2.24 million metric tons in 2022²⁰, 1.91 million in 2023²¹, and 2.07 million in 2024⁷.

O’Hare International Airport generates over $1 billion in operating revenue annually.

• The total annual operating revenue generated at O’Hare International Airport has steadily increased over the years, reaching $1.72 billion in 2025⁴.
• This marks a rise from $1.61 billion in 2024 and $1.43 billion in 2023, recovering strongly from $905.6 million in 2020 during the pandemic⁴.
• Compared to $1.26 billion in 2022 and $1.25 billion in 2019⁴, the 2025 revenue reflects consistent post-pandemic growth.

• On September 17, 1961, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 crashed on takeoff, killing all 37 aboard²².
• On August 16, 1965, United Airlines Flight 389 crashed into Lake Michigan near O'Hare, killing all 30 on board²³.
• On December 27, 1968, North Central Airlines Flight 458 crashed into a hangar at O'Hare, killing 28 people²⁴.
• On December 20, 1972, North Central Flight 575 collided with Delta Flight 954 during takeoff, killing 10 passengers²⁵.
• On May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 273 people, the deadliest single-aircraft crash in U.S. history²⁶.
• On March 19, 1982, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 crashed near Woodstock during approach, killing all 27 on board²⁷.
• On February 9, 1998, American Airlines Flight 1340 crashed while landing, injuring 22 passengers²⁸.
• On July 23, 2006, a near miss occurred between United Flight 1015 and Atlas Air Flight 6972; all 131 aboard survived²⁹.
• On November 7, 2006, as many as a dozen United Airlines workers reported a saucer-like object hovering over Gate C17 before it shot up through the clouds; controllers saw nothing and radar showed nothing unusual³⁰.
• On October 28, 2016, American Airlines Flight 383 aborted takeoff due to an engine fire, injuring 21 people³¹.
• On June 13, 2022, extreme turbulence during the landing of American Flight 151 injured a passenger not wearing a seatbelt; a lawsuit followed in 2024³².