JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

ORD Chicago ⇄ DCA Washington

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

Distance983 km611 mi531 nautical miles
ORD → DCA2 h 05 minestimated block time
DCA → ORD2 h 20 minestimated block time
Clock change+1 hWashington vs Chicago, today
Great-circle route from Chicago (ORD) to Washington (DCA)ORDChicagoDCAWashington
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

ORD → DCA

2 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 107° (ESE).

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Washington Sat 7 Nov, 13:05 local.

DCA → ORD

2 h 20 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 294° (WNW).

Leave Washington Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 11:20 local.

The two directions differ by 14 minutes in our estimate: this route is short, so the wind has little effect on the total. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance983 km · 611 mi · 531 nmi
Initial heading107° (ESE) from ORD; 294° (WNW) from DCA
Farthest from the equator42.0°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip5% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

ORDAmerica/Chicago — UTC−5 now; UTC−6 standard time, UTC−5 during daylight saving time
DCAAmerica/New_York — UTC−4 now; UTC−5 standard time, UTC−4 during daylight saving time
DifferenceWashington is 1 hour ahead of Chicago today.

Jet lag, flying ORD → DCA. Your body clock has to move 1 hour 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

ORD Chicago O'Hare International AirportChicago, United States · longest runway 13,000 ft3,962 m DCA Ronald Reagan Washington National AirportWashington, United States · longest runway 7,169 ft2,185 m

More routes from ORD and DCA

ORDMSP Chicago – Minneapolis 537 km334 mi · 1 h 45 min DFWORD Dallas–Fort Worth – Chicago 1,291 km802 mi · 2 h 25 min ORDMCO Chicago – Orlando 1,620 km1,007 mi · 2 h 50 min SEAORD Seattle – Chicago 2,762 km1,716 mi · 3 h 55 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 LGADCA New York – Washington 345 km214 mi · 1 h 30 min BOSDCA Boston – Washington 641 km398 mi · 1 h 50 min

Routes of a similar length

CGKDPS Jakarta – Bali (Denpasar) 983 km611 mi · 2 h 10 min SINHKT Singapore – Phuket 980 km609 mi · 2 h 10 min LHRCPH London – Copenhagen 979 km609 mi · 2 h 05 min BKKHAN Bangkok – Hanoi 995 km618 mi · 2 h 10 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).