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DelayAtlas

Transatlantic route · frequency, carriers and airport records

MUC→ORD

Munich to Chicago

Flights
1,689 both ways
Carriers
2
Distance
4,517 mi
Period
July 2025 to June 2026
—GRADE

No public record scores Munich to Chicago O'Hare International flight by flight. The US Department of Transportation's on-time database covers domestic flights only, and in Europe only the United Kingdom publishes punctuality by route, so what follows is built from the three measurements that do exist. The DOT's international report counts 1,689 flights between the two airports in the twelve months to June 2026, about two departures a day in each direction, flown by Lufthansa and United. EUROCONTROL's year-to-date figure has 71.0% of all departures from Munich leaving within 15 minutes of schedule and 80.0% of arrivals landing within 15 minutes. At the other end, 70.8% of ORD's domestic departures arrived on time in the DOT data, which says something about how the airport itself runs, not about this route.

On EUROCONTROL's year-to-date arrival punctuality, Munich ranks 5th of the 41 European airports on this site with service to the United States. Bilbao leads that table at 84.3% and Manchester closes it at 65.7%. A long-haul departure inherits the airport's morning: an aircraft that arrived late from its previous sector, or a departure queue built up by weather, delays the transatlantic wave with everything else.

Key figures

Flights

1,689

Both directions, July 2025 to June 2026 (DOT)

Carriers

2

Lufthansa, United Airlines

MUC departures on time

71.0%

All destinations, year to date (EUROCONTROL)

ORD domestic on time

70.8%

US DOT, last twelve months of domestic departures

Without a route-level record, the useful question is what the two airports do to a schedule. EUROCONTROL attributes 0.4 minutes of air traffic flow management delay per arriving flight to Munich so far this year; that is delay imposed by the network to hold traffic on the ground elsewhere, not the airline's own. In the DOT data, a delayed domestic departure from ORD ran a little over an hour late on average over the last twelve months, and 2.80% of its scheduled flights were cancelled.

Carrier by carrier

Who flies MUC to ORD

Lufthansa flew 57% of the 1,689 flights between MUC and ORD in the DOT's count, with United Airlines on 725. Loads averaged 222 passengers a flight, which on this route means wide-body aircraft nearly full.

Carriers on MUC to ORD by flights operated
AirlineFlightsSharePer monthPassengers / flight
Lufthansa96457%80232
United Airlines72543%60209

DOT international report, July 2025 to June 2026; flights in both directions together. No delay figures exist for this pair in any public source.

Across the year

How often MUC to ORD flies through the year

The DOT's international report puts 168 flights on the pair in July 2025, the busiest month of the window, and 110 in February 2026, the thinnest. A summer-to-winter swing of that size means the winter schedule is a different operation: fewer frequencies, so a cancellation leaves a longer wait for the next seat.

Flights per month, both directions

  • July 2025168
  • August 2025165
  • September 2025162
  • October 2025156
  • November 2025120
  • December 2025124
  • January 2026120
  • February 2026110
  • March 2026119
  • April 2026112
  • May 2026166
  • June 2026167
Flights in both directions together, as the DOT international report counts them; flights per calendar month.

The DOT's international report counts flights in both directions together: 1,689 between MUC and ORD from July 2025 to June 2026, about two departures a day in each direction, carrying 375,797 passengers. That makes it the busiest of 16 US routes from Munich and the 6th busiest of 23 European routes into ORD.

The departure airport

How Munich is running

EUROCONTROL's figures for Munich as a whole, every airline and every destination: 71.0% of departures and 80.0% of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule from 1 January to 21 October 2026, with 95.7% of scheduled flights operated. The last seven days ran at 70.4% for departures, in line with the year. Air traffic flow management delay attributed to the airport averaged 0.4 minutes per arriving flight this year, 0.6 over the last week.

EUROCONTROL punctuality at Munich
WindowDepartures on timeArrivals on timeSchedules operatedATFM delay / arrival
Yesterday (21 October 2026)80.8%86.4%95.8%0.0 min
Last 7 days70.4%78.1%97.6%0.6 min
Year to date71.0%80.0%95.7%0.4 min

Every US route from Munich, and its full punctuality record

The arrival airport

Landing at Chicago O'Hare International

Chicago O'Hare International is scored on this site from the DOT's domestic data: 70.8% of its 363,008 domestic departures arrived on time over the last twelve months, with delayed flights running a little over an hour late, and 2.80% were cancelled. Those are domestic flights, not this route, but an arriving transatlantic flight shares the same runways, the same weather and the same ground delay programmes, so a bad day at ORD reaches a flight from MUC just as surely. The airport's own page has the hour-by-hour and month-by-month detail, and its live FAA status appears above when the FAA has something to say.

Domestic on time

70.8%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late (DOT)

Avg delay

79 min

Delayed domestic flights only

Cancelled

2.80%

Domestic departures

363,008

Last twelve months

Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) delay statistics, hour by hour and month by month

Your rights

EC 261/2004 on MUC to ORD

Every flight that departs Munich falls under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, whichever airline flies it and wherever it lands. If it arrives at Chicago O'Hare International three hours or more late, or is cancelled with under 14 days' notice, and the cause was within the airline's control, each passenger is owed €600 (€300 if the airline got you there under four hours late), on top of rebooking and care. Weather, air traffic control restrictions and strikes outside the airline are the usual exemptions. The return flight from ORD is covered only when the carrier is EU based. The sector is about 4,517 miles, 7,268 km, which puts it in the top distance band.

Delayed three hours or more? Check a claim with Compensair →

What to do with this

Booking MUC to ORD

There is no grade to give MUC to ORD without a route record, and this site does not invent one. What the three sources support: about two departures a day in each direction, a choice of two carriers, a departure airport that gets 71% of its departures away on time and an arrival airport that runs 71% on time domestically. Leave two hours for any onward connection at ORD; immigration comes before the connecting flight.

Common questions

MUC to ORD questions

How often are MUC to ORD flights delayed?

No public dataset records delays for this route flight by flight: the US on-time database is domestic only and only the UK publishes route-level punctuality in Europe. The nearest measurements are the departure airport's EUROCONTROL punctuality (71.0% of departures within 15 minutes this year) and ORD's domestic record in the DOT data (70.8% on time).

Which airlines fly MUC to ORD?

Lufthansa and United Airlines, in order of flights operated between July 2025 and June 2026. Lufthansa accounted for 57% of the 1,689 flights the DOT counted on the pair.

Can I claim compensation for a delayed MUC to ORD flight?

Yes, if the flight arrived three hours or more late or was cancelled at short notice for a reason within the airline's control: departures from Munich are covered by EC 261/2004 whichever airline operates them. The fixed amount for a sector of this length is €600 a passenger, €300 if the airline got you there under four hours late. The return from ORD is covered only on an EU carrier.

How many flights a day are there from MUC to ORD?

About two departures a day in each direction: the DOT counted 1,689 flights in both directions over twelve months, peaking at 168 in July 2025 and falling to 110 in February 2026.

Related

Where to go next

Germany publishes no route-level punctuality, so this page cannot grade the route. The UK pages in this section can, because the CAA does.

Sources: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, International Report (flights and passengers by carrier and airport pair), July 2025 to June 2026; EUROCONTROL Aviation Intelligence Portal, airport punctuality and ATFM delay to 21 October 2026. Rebuilt 22 October 2026; the EUROCONTROL figures refresh with each weekly build, the others when their publisher releases a month. How these sources differ.