JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

LAX Los Angeles ⇄ ORD Chicago

Los Angeles International Airport (United States) and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (United States): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance2,802 km1,741 mi1,513 nautical miles
LAX → ORD3 h 55 minestimated block time
ORD → LAX4 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+2 hChicago vs Los Angeles, today
Great-circle route from Los Angeles (LAX) to Chicago (ORD)LAXLos AngelesORDChicago
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

LAX → ORD

3 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 62° (ENE).

Leave Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 15:55 local.

ORD → LAX

4 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 261° (W).

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Los Angeles Sat 7 Nov, 12:35 local.

LAX-bound flights are the slower direction by about 40 minutes in our estimate: the route runs mostly east–west through latitudes where the prevailing westerly winds at cruise height are strong, so heading east rides a tailwind and heading west fights a headwind. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance2,802 km · 1,741 mi · 1,513 nmi
Initial heading62° (ENE) from LAX; 261° (W) from ORD
Farthest from the equator42.0°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip14% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

LAXAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
ORDAmerica/Chicago — UTC−5 now; UTC−6 standard time, UTC−5 during daylight saving time
DifferenceChicago is 2 hours ahead of Los Angeles today.

Jet lag, flying LAX → ORD. Your body clock has to move 2 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A shift this small rarely causes much jet lag; most people feel normal within a day or so. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

LAX Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles, United States · longest runway 12,894 ft3,930 m ORD Chicago O'Hare International AirportChicago, United States · longest runway 13,000 ft3,962 m

More routes from LAX and ORD

LAXLAS Los Angeles – Las Vegas 380 km236 mi · 1 h 25 min LAXSEA Los Angeles – Seattle 1,537 km955 mi · 2 h 50 min JFKLAX New York – Los Angeles 3,974 km2,469 mi · 6 h 05 min LAXAMS Los Angeles – Amsterdam 8,956 km5,565 mi · 10 h 45 min LAXTPE Los Angeles – Taipei 10,922 km6,787 mi · 14 h 40 min LAXSIN Los Angeles – Singapore 14,102 km8,762 mi · 18 h 25 min ORDMSP Chicago – Minneapolis 537 km334 mi · 1 h 45 min JFKORD New York – Chicago 1,188 km738 mi · 2 h 35 min IAHORD Houston – Chicago 1,491 km926 mi · 2 h 40 min ORDLAS Chicago – Las Vegas 2,432 km1,511 mi · 4 h 10 min ORDLHR Chicago – London 6,344 km3,942 mi · 7 h 45 min ORDICN Chicago – Seoul 10,519 km6,536 mi · 13 h 30 min

Routes of a similar length

MELPER Melbourne – Perth 2,700 km1,678 mi · 4 h 25 min LGWAYT London – Antalya 2,908 km1,807 mi · 4 h 05 min JNBNBO Johannesburg – Nairobi 2,912 km1,810 mi · 4 h 20 min LGWTFS London – Tenerife 2,913 km1,810 mi · 4 h 30 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).