O'Hare: 1 flight in 6 takes 30 minutes to reach the gate

At O’Hare, 16.2% of domestic flights take 30 minutes or more from landing to gate. The median is 18 minutes, against 7 nationally. No other big US airport comes close, and it sets the timing for everything else here.

Meet the evening flights later

Flights landing in the 7 PM hour take a median 23 minutes to reach the gate, and the slowest 1 in 10 take at least 52. At 11 AM that’s 15 and 24. Add about 10 minutes to get off from a back row, and a slow 7 PM arrival is still on board an hour after landing.

If you’re waiting at the cell phone lot, go when the flight reaches the gate. “Landed” at O’Hare carries too wide a range to set off on.

October is slower than January

O’Hare’s quickest months in the past year were January and February, with a median of 15. October was the slowest at 20, with the slow tail at 40. A median hides the worst storm days, so this says nothing about those. On an ordinary day, summer and fall run slower than winter.

Airlines differ less here than elsewhere. American runs 16 and 33, United 18 and 38, SkyWest 19 and 39. Southwest, with about 3,000 flights a year, runs 12 and 27.

Concourse C and Terminal 5 are the long walks

Concourse B is 2 to 6 minutes to the curb. Concourse C is 6 to 15, through the tunnel. Concourse M, in Terminal 5, is 5 to 23.

Put it together for a carry-on in row 25 of a 737, and the typical trip from landing to curb is 36 minutes, 55 on a slow one. That’s 32 from Concourse B, 39 from C and 41 from M. A checked bag adds roughly 8 minutes, and that bag figure is a judgement.

Rideshares load upstairs: orange poles 2A to 2G at Terminal 2, green poles 3G to 3K at Terminal 3. From Terminals 1 and 5, ride the airport train to Terminal 2 or 3 first.

Sunday’s busy stretch is noon to 5 PM

Security here typically peaks from about 5 to 8 AM on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Sunday is different: the busiest stretch runs from noon to 5 PM. Tuesday and Wednesday have no hour in the top band.

Terminal 5’s passport hall is calmer than most big gateways. Over the past year 13.2% of arrivals waited over 30 minutes and 1.8% over an hour.

Of 14 lounges, Priority Pass opens 2, both in Terminal 5, and one of them shuts it out from noon to 5 PM. More in the lounge piece.

What this can’t tell you

Taxi times cover US airlines’ domestic flights. They don’t show which concourse a slow flight used, or why it was slow. Storm days are in the year’s figures, but a median hides them.

Security bands are typical, not live, and not a guarantee. Walks are modelled from maps and nobody has timed them. Nothing here says what’s happening at O’Hare today.

Taxi and passport figures are measured. Security bands and walks are modelled. Bag time is judgement. Methods: taxi-in, security hours, landing to the curb.

Skycap says when your flight should reach the O’Hare curb, counting the taxi at that hour, your row and your concourse.

Typical security times are estimated from public passenger-throughput data. Not affiliated with any airport, airline or government agency.