Route profile
SNA→ORD
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Santa Ana to Chicago, 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 67% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,716 flights. How this is calculated
SNA → ORD arrives on time 80.9% of the time; the return trip, ORD → SNA, arrives on time 79.7% of the time.
SNA → ORD spends 35.5 minutes on the ground on a 1,726-mile trip: 18.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SNA and 17.6 minutes from touchdown to gate at ORD.
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 91% of 3,357 comparable routes.
86.2% on time in its best month (December) against 75.1% 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 SNA to ORD differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SNA to ORD is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 5 PM: 80.1% arrive on time, 8.3 points ahead of the 71.8% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.3 points.
SNA to ORD struggles most at 3 PM: 65.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7 points behind the 72.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.2 points.
SNA to ORD holds up on Saturdays better than routes of similar length do: 84.3% on time to their 78.8%, a 5.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 5.2 points.
December is kinder to SNA to ORD than to routes of similar length: 86.2% on time against 79.5%, 6.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.4 points.
United Airlines does better on SNA to ORD than on its routes of similar length: 83.5% on time here, 80.2% there, 3.3 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 3.6 points.
SNA to ORD against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 80.1% | routes of similar length | 71.8% | +8.3 pts | 181 here, 93,964 there |
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 65.5% | routes of similar length | 72.5% | −7.0 pts | 371 here, 68,549 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 84.3% | routes of similar length | 78.8% | +5.5 pts | 907 here, 186,989 there |
| Month: December | 86.2% | routes of similar length | 79.5% | +6.7 pts | 493 here, 110,952 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 83.5% | routes of similar length | 80.2% | +3.3 pts | 3,409 here, 293,000 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 8 min early
Percentiles over 6,716 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at ORD after arriving from SNA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 35% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 18% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.3% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.3% | 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 0.66% of the time and diverts 1.09% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,599 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
SNA → ORD flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.4% of the time, against 71.3% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 19.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 90.8% on time from 600 flights
- 7 AM: 91.6% on time from 1,233 flights
- 8 AM: 81.9% on time from 209 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 85.4% on time from 1,082 flights
- 11 AM: 77.7% on time from 1,160 flights
- 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 70.1% on time from 797 flights
- 2 PM: 75.3% on time from 978 flights
- 3 PM: 65.5% on time from 387 flights
- 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 80.1% on time from 186 flights
- 6 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SNA → ORD 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 SNA → ORD. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SNA → ORD, at 39.3%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.4% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 71.3%.
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 | 83.5% | 0.35% | -8 min | 4.7% |
| American Airlines | 3,255 | 78.2% | 0.98% | -8 min | 8.2% |
United Airlines flew 51.5% of the 6,716 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 5.3 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Chicago
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX→ORD Los Angeles to Chicago | 21,167 | 80.9% | 1.29% | -9 min | 67 |
| SNA→ORD this route Santa Ana to Chicago | 6,716 | 80.9% | 0.66% | -8 min | 72 |
SNA → ORD is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 80.9% on time, against 80.9% for LAX → ORD.
Flying to ORD from the Los Angeles area? Compare SNA, LAX, BUR, ONT for ORD, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA2590 American Airlines | 7:45 AM | 1,079 | 89.5% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 11.2 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.8%
- Feb: 84.1%
- Mar: 76.2%
- Apr: 83.0%
- May: 78.1%
- Jun: 77.2%
- Jul: 75.1%
- Aug: 80.8%
- Sep: 85.4%
- Oct: 84.9%
- Nov: 82.6%
- Dec: 86.2%
July is historically the weakest month and December the strongest, a spread of 11.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 76.4% from 208 flights
- August 2023: 87.1% from 213 flights
- September 2023: 89.5% from 192 flights
- October 2023: 90.9% from 175 flights
- November 2023: 85.7% from 142 flights
- December 2023: 90.7% from 151 flights
- January 2024: 84.4% from 176 flights
- February 2024: 87.7% from 164 flights
- March 2024: 82.1% from 197 flights
- April 2024: 84.3% from 204 flights
- May 2024: 73.5% from 210 flights
- June 2024: 87.6% from 172 flights
- July 2024: 78.2% from 171 flights
- August 2024: 82.2% from 169 flights
- September 2024: 85.1% from 161 flights
- October 2024: 87.3% from 166 flights
- November 2024: 86.9% from 160 flights
- December 2024: 86.3% from 169 flights
- January 2025: 82.7% from 179 flights
- February 2025: 86.2% from 160 flights
- March 2025: 74.9% from 176 flights
- April 2025: 85.1% from 195 flights
- May 2025: 80.3% from 211 flights
- June 2025: 72.2% from 201 flights
- July 2025: 73.9% from 205 flights
- August 2025: 72.8% from 206 flights
- September 2025: 81.4% from 190 flights
- October 2025: 77.9% from 208 flights
- November 2025: 75.9% from 173 flights
- December 2025: 82.2% from 177 flights
- January 2026: 75.3% from 176 flights
- February 2026: 78.5% from 163 flights
- March 2026: 70.8% from 181 flights
- April 2026: 78.9% from 176 flights
- May 2026: 80.6% from 181 flights
- June 2026: 72.5% from 176 flights
- July 2026: 72.2% from 182 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 76.5% against 81.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 5.1 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,716 SNA → ORD 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