Transatlantic route · frequency, carriers and airport records
SNN→ORD
Shannon to Chicago
- Flights
- 251 both ways
- Carriers
- 1
- Distance
- 3,581 mi
- Period
- July 2025 to June 2026
No public record scores Shannon 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 251 flights between the two airports in the twelve months to June 2026, about two departures a week in each direction, flown by United. EUROCONTROL publishes no punctuality series for Shannon. 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.
EUROCONTROL does not publish a punctuality series for Shannon, so the departure end of this route cannot be ranked against other European gateways here.
Key figures
Flights
251
Both directions, July 2025 to June 2026 (DOT)
Carriers
1
United Airlines
SNN departures on time
—
Not published for this airport
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. 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 SNN to ORD
United Airlines is the only carrier the DOT report shows on SNN to ORD, with 251 flights and an average of 138 passengers aboard each. A single-carrier route gives a delayed passenger no same-day alternative on the same ticket, which is worth knowing before booking a tight onward connection.
| Airline | Flights | Share | Per month | Passengers / flight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 251 | 100% | 21 | 138 |
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 SNN to ORD flies through the year
The DOT's international report puts 62 flights on the pair in July 2025, the busiest month of the window, and 0 in April 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 202562
- August 202562
- September 202547
- October 20250
- November 20250
- December 20250
- January 20260
- February 20260
- March 20260
- April 20260
- May 202621
- June 202659
The DOT's international report counts flights in both directions together: 251 between SNN and ORD from July 2025 to June 2026, about two departures a week in each direction, carrying 34,709 passengers. That makes it the 4th busiest of 4 US routes from Shannon and the 22nd busiest of 23 European routes into ORD.
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 SNN 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 SNN to ORD
Every flight that departs Shannon 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 3,581 miles, 5,762 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 SNN to ORD
There is no grade to give SNN to ORD without a route record, and this site does not invent one. What the three sources support: about two departures a week in each direction, a single carrier, a departure airport that EUROCONTROL does not score 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
SNN to ORD questions
How often are SNN 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 (not published for this airport) and ORD's domestic record in the DOT data (70.8% on time).
Which airlines fly SNN to ORD?
United Airlines. United Airlines accounted for 100% of the 251 flights the DOT counted on the pair.
Can I claim compensation for a delayed SNN 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 Shannon 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 SNN to ORD?
About two departures a week in each direction: the DOT counted 251 flights in both directions over twelve months, peaking at 62 in July 2025 and falling to 0 in April 2026.
Related
Where to go next
- Shannon (SNN): every US route
- Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) delay statistics
- SNN to JFK, New York (JFK)838 flights
- SNN to BOS, Boston (BOS)753 flights
- SNN to EWR, Newark (EWR)408 flights
- LHR to ORD, from London5,762 flights
- FRA to ORD, from Frankfurt2,780 flights
- DUB to ORD, from Dublin2,325 flights
- CDG to ORD, from Paris2,073 flights
- Every Europe-to-US route and airport
Ireland 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. Rebuilt 22 October 2026; the EUROCONTROL figures refresh with each weekly build, the others when their publisher releases a month. How these sources differ.