Great-circle route ORD → SAN. 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 San Diego is approximately 3h 55m nonstop. The distance is 1,720 miles (2,768 km). There are about 16 nonstop flights from Chicago to San Diego 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 → SAN Chicago O'Hare International Airport to San Diego International Airport |
3h 55m | 1,720 mi | 90/wk | Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines |
| MDW → SAN Chicago Midway International Airport to San Diego International Airport |
3h 56m | 1,725 mi | 24/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.
4 airlines fly nonstop from Chicago to San Diego, including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737, Airbus A320 and 1 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 San Diego is 1,720 miles, or 2,768 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 1,720 mi |
| Kilometres | 2,768 km |
| Nautical miles | 1,495 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. 4 airlines fly it nonstop, with about 114 departures a week, across 2 airport pairings. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 3h 55m in the air on the ORD–SAN nonstop. That is a great-circle estimate from the 1,720-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.
1,720 miles (2,768 km) great-circle between Chicago O'Hare International Airport and San Diego International Airport.
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737, Airbus A320. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
ORD to SAN, MDW to SAN. Flight times differ slightly between them because the airports are not in the same place.
