Chicago records over one million round-trip fliers on top destinations in 2024

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Chicago records over one million round-trip fliers on top destinations in 2024

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Michael J. McMurray, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) | Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA)

By Sky Industry News

Jun 1, 2025

In 2024, Chicago's airports, O'Hare and Midway, handled a combined total of 101.5 million passengers, with approximately 85.1 million being domestic travelers according to the US Department of Transportation. Avelo Airlines contributed to these figures by moving its operations from Midway to O'Hare.

Fifteen markets recorded over one million round-trip local passengers from Chicago, collectively amounting to 22.7 million passengers or about 62,000 daily. These local passengers exclude those who transferred flights at either end and consist only of travelers flying directly between the two cities.

O'Hare accounted for a significant portion of this traffic due to its status as the world's busiest airport for regional jet flights, representing three-quarters of the local passenger volume. Among these routes, Chicago-New York LaGuardia emerged as the most popular market with 2.63 million local passengers or roughly 7,200 people daily. O'Hare was responsible for the majority of this traffic with approximately 5,900 passengers per day.

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The LaGuardia route saw operations from five airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines (from O'Hare), and Southwest Airlines (from Midway). According to Cirium Diio data, they offered up to 42 daily departures on this busy route connecting two major urban centers with significant business travel demand.

Nearly all passengers (99%) opted for nonstop flights due to the relatively short distance between Chicago and New York City. The US Department of Transportation data reveals that United led in carrying local passengers with a share of 35% (913,000), followed by American at 20% (531,000), Delta at 18% (469,000), Southwest also at 18% (468,000), and Spirit at 8% (244,000).

Overall traffic between Chicago and LaGuardia reached 3.28 million last year, when including connecting travelers, 80% were local trips totaling around 2.63 million individuals, while approximately 660 thousand connected elsewhere, predominantly through O’Hare Airport itself given, its connectivity advantage over other carriers such as Southwest which lacks hubs but remains reliant upon connections.