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

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.