JetSetAuthority

Route · United States and Canada

SEA Seattle ⇄ ORD Chicago

Seattle–Tacoma 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.

Distance2,762 km1,716 mi1,491 nautical miles
SEA → ORD3 h 55 minestimated block time
ORD → SEA4 h 30 minestimated block time
Clock change+2 hChicago vs Seattle, today
Great-circle route from Seattle (SEA) to Chicago (ORD)SEASeattleORDChicago
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

SEA → ORD

3 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 90° (E).

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

ORD → SEA

4 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 295° (WNW).

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Seattle Sat 7 Nov, 12:30 local.

SEA-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 distance2,762 km · 1,716 mi · 1,491 nmi
Initial heading90° (E) from SEA; 295° (WNW) from ORD
Farthest from the equator47.4°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

SEAAmerica/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 Seattle today.

Jet lag, flying SEA → 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

SEA Seattle–Tacoma International AirportSeattle, United States · longest runway 11,901 ft3,627 m ORD Chicago O'Hare International AirportChicago, United States · longest runway 13,000 ft3,962 m

More routes from SEA and ORD

SFOSEA San Francisco – Seattle 1,093 km679 mi · 2 h 20 min SEADEN Seattle – Denver 1,645 km1,022 mi · 2 h 45 min JFKSEA New York – Seattle 3,887 km2,415 mi · 5 h 55 min SEALHR Seattle – London 7,702 km4,786 mi · 9 h 25 min SEAAMS Seattle – Amsterdam 7,840 km4,872 mi · 9 h 40 min SINSEA Singapore – Seattle 12,979 km8,065 mi · 15 h 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 YYZYYC Toronto – Calgary 2,689 km1,671 mi · 4 h 25 min MELAKL Melbourne – Auckland 2,637 km1,639 mi · 3 h 45 min LGWAYT London – Antalya 2,908 km1,807 mi · 4 h 05 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).