Flight Report

ADS-B data for Chicago O'Hare on October 1, 2025 captured 2,375 total flights: 1,162 arrivals, 1,162 departures, and 51 touch-and-gos. Traffic ran continuously across all 24 hours, with the first and last flights logged at 00:00 and 23:59 CDT. The peak hour was 17:00 CDT with 182 flights, and the average across all hours was 99 flights per hour. Activity built gradually through the morning, with volume jumping sharply at 06:00 (81 flights) after near-silence in the overnight hours. The busiest sustained window ran from 11:00 through 17:00, with hourly totals between 139 and 182. A total of 869 unique aircraft appeared in the data, the majority registered in the United States (785). Aircraft from 21 additional countries were observed, including Canada, China, Japan, Germany, and South Korea. The top route by frequency was ORD to LaGuardia (LGA), with 30 arrivals and 30 departures recorded. Minneapolis (MSP), Denver (DEN), Washington Reagan (DCA), Detroit (DTW), Toronto (YYZ), and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) each accounted for 32 to 35 total operations. The busiest approach directions were E (166), W (131), and SSE (106). Departure headings followed a similar spread, led by E (173), W (136), and SSE (122). The shortest tracked flight was an 8.6 nm arrival from DuPage Airport lasting 26.7 minutes. The longest was a 4,074.6 nm arrival connected to Washington Dulles (IAD) with a duration of 818.6 minutes. The altitude profile across 1,638,892 ADS-B position points shows heavy concentration in the 1,000 to 2,000 ft band (150,190 points), consistent with approach and departure traffic near the field. A second concentration appears between 35,000 and 38,000 ft, with the 36,000 to 37,000 ft band logging the highest cruise-level count at 66,789 points. The average groundspeed across all tracked segments was 315 knots, with a maximum of 622.1 knots. The highest recorded altitude was 46,725 ft, reached by N42MJ on a departure to McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS). Average flight leg distance was 644.1 nm, with an average duration of 112.9 minutes.