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.