Route profile
ORD→SNA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to Santa Ana, 1,726 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 78% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,716 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
ORD → SNA arrives on time 79.7% of the time; the return trip, SNA → ORD, arrives on time 80.9% of the time.
ORD → SNA spends 32.2 minutes on the ground on a 1,726-mile trip: 24.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 7.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at SNA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route holds up about the same all year, a steadier seasonal pattern than 93% of 3,357 comparable routes.
84.7% on time in its best month (December) against 74.3% in its worst (July).
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where ORD to SNA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ORD to SNA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 3 PM: 88.0% arrive on time, 15.5 points ahead of the 72.5% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 15.3 points.
ORD to SNA struggles most at 11 AM: 71.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.1 points behind the 78.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.7 points.
ORD to SNA holds up on Tuesdays better than routes of similar length do: 84.1% on time to their 80.9%, a 3.2 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 2.5 points.
May is kinder to ORD to SNA than to routes of similar length: 81.3% on time against 75.5%, 5.8 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.1 points.
American Airlines does better on ORD to SNA than on its routes of similar length: 78.8% on time here, 76.7% there, 2.1 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 3.7 points.
ORD to SNA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 88.0% | routes of similar length | 72.5% | +15.5 pts | 133 here, 68,787 there |
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 71.3% | routes of similar length | 78.4% | −7.1 pts | 303 here, 83,062 there |
| Weekday: Tuesday | 84.1% | routes of similar length | 80.9% | +3.2 pts | 950 here, 188,572 there |
| Month: May | 81.3% | routes of similar length | 75.5% | +5.8 pts | 589 here, 118,735 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 78.8% | routes of similar length | 76.7% | +2.1 pts | 3,208 here, 223,765 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 1,726 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
35 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 6,716 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SNA after arriving from ORD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 20% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 2.6% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 0.54% of the time and diverts 0.89% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,620 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 35 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,716 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ORD → SNA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 85.5% of the time, against 73.6% for 12–3 PM departures, a gap of 11.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 89.2% on time from 401 flights
- 8 AM: 84.4% on time from 1,236 flights
- 9 AM: 81.5% on time from 925 flights
- 10 AM: 76.4% on time from 549 flights
- 11 AM: 71.3% on time from 305 flights
- 12 PM: 73.4% on time from 131 flights
- 1 PM to 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 88.0% on time from 134 flights
- 4 PM: 75.8% on time from 974 flights
- 5 PM: 69.7% on time from 376 flights
- 6 PM: 76.4% on time from 493 flights
- 7 PM: 80.8% on time from 1,089 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why ORD → SNA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for ORD → SNA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on ORD → SNA, at 39.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 85.5% of the time and 12–3 PM departures 73.6%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 3,461 | 80.7% | 0.14% | -6 min | 4.1% |
| American Airlines | 3,255 | 78.8% | 0.95% | -6 min | 6.3% |
United Airlines flew 51.5% of the 6,716 flights listed.
Carriers on this route performed within a couple of percentage points of each other.
Other ways to fly Chicago to Los Angeles
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD→LAX Chicago to Los Angeles | 21,173 | 76.4% | 1.19% | -6 min | 61 |
| ORD→SNA this route Chicago to Santa Ana | 6,716 | 79.7% | 0.54% | -6 min | 76 |
ORD → SNA is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 79.7% on time, against 76.4% for ORD → LAX.
Flying to SNA from the Chicago area? Compare ORD, MDW for SNA, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 77.2%
- Feb: 79.9%
- Mar: 81.2%
- Apr: 80.6%
- May: 81.3%
- Jun: 74.6%
- Jul: 74.3%
- Aug: 78.4%
- Sep: 80.8%
- Oct: 83.1%
- Nov: 83.8%
- Dec: 84.7%
July is historically the weakest month and December the strongest, a spread of 10.4 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 74.6% from 208 flights
- August 2023: 82.4% from 213 flights
- September 2023: 86.4% from 191 flights
- October 2023: 92.6% from 176 flights
- November 2023: 86.1% from 141 flights
- December 2023: 92.7% from 152 flights
- January 2024: 76.3% from 176 flights
- February 2024: 85.8% from 164 flights
- March 2024: 87.0% from 197 flights
- April 2024: 86.7% from 204 flights
- May 2024: 69.4% from 210 flights
- June 2024: 72.9% from 172 flights
- July 2024: 72.9% from 171 flights
- August 2024: 75.8% from 168 flights
- September 2024: 78.4% from 162 flights
- October 2024: 87.3% from 166 flights
- November 2024: 84.9% from 159 flights
- December 2024: 86.3% from 170 flights
- January 2025: 83.1% from 179 flights
- February 2025: 79.2% from 160 flights
- March 2025: 83.3% from 176 flights
- April 2025: 82.5% from 195 flights
- May 2025: 91.2% from 210 flights
- June 2025: 77.9% from 202 flights
- July 2025: 75.1% from 205 flights
- August 2025: 76.3% from 206 flights
- September 2025: 77.2% from 190 flights
- October 2025: 71.6% from 208 flights
- November 2025: 80.7% from 173 flights
- December 2025: 76.2% from 177 flights
- January 2026: 71.9% from 175 flights
- February 2026: 74.7% from 163 flights
- March 2026: 72.7% from 182 flights
- April 2026: 71.4% from 176 flights
- May 2026: 83.7% from 181 flights
- June 2026: 72.5% from 176 flights
- July 2026: 74.3% from 182 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 75.3% against 82.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.8 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,716 ORD → SNA flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed