Great-circle route ORD → LAX. Faint dots are other airports, for geographic context. Download this map — free to reuse with a link back to this page.
The flight time from Chicago to Los Angeles is approximately 3h 58m nonstop. The distance is 1,741 miles (2,802 km). There are about 28 nonstop flights from Chicago to Los Angeles per day.
That is a great-circle estimate, not a scheduled block time. An airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
| Route | Est. time | Distance | Frequency | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD → LAX Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport |
3h 58m | 1,741 mi | 170/wk | American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines |
| MDW → LAX Chicago Midway International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport |
3h 58m | 1,747 mi | 26/wk | Southwest Airlines |
Frequencies come from our most recent schedule sample. Where a pairing shows “—” we track it as an operating nonstop but hold no schedule sample for it — we would rather show nothing than guess.
5 airlines fly nonstop from Chicago to Los Angeles, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines and 1 more.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Airbus A321, Airbus A320, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 757-300 and 2 other types.
Aircraft assignments change by season and by time of day.
On a long east–west route like this one the two directions do not take the same time. Aircraft flying eastbound ride the mid-latitude jet stream and typically arrive earlier than the westbound leg, which flies into it. The difference is commonly 30 to 90 minutes on transatlantic and transpacific flights, and it varies by season. The estimate above does not model wind — treat it as a midpoint and check the airline's own timetable for the block time on your date.
The distance from Chicago to Los Angeles is 1,741 miles, or 2,802 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 1,741 mi |
| Kilometres | 2,802 km |
| Nautical miles | 1,513 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. 5 airlines fly it nonstop, with about 196 departures a week, across 2 airport pairings. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 3h 58m in the air on the ORD–LAX nonstop. That is a great-circle estimate from the 1,741-mile distance, not a scheduled block time — an airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
1,741 miles (2,802 km) great-circle between Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Airbus A321, Airbus A320, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 757-300. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
ORD to LAX, MDW to LAX. Flight times differ slightly between them because the airports are not in the same place.
