If you’ve ever flown in or out of O’Hare, you’ve likely experienced eternity passing as your plane taxis around the runway.
You’re not crazy. A recent Chicago Tribune report found that O’Hare Airport averages some of the longest incoming and outgoing airplane taxi times in the U.S.
Here’s a breakdown of the data and what it means for your holiday travel plans.
O’Hare taxi times average from 20 minutes to nearly half an hour
The Chicago Tribune analyzed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data from this year, and found that airplane taxi times at O’Hare are longer than nearly every other airport in the U.S.
From January through August 2026, flights landing at O’Hare taxied an average of 20 minutes before reaching their gate.
This stat exceeds average recorded incoming taxi times at all other major U.S. airports, according to the Tribune.
As if our incoming taxi times weren’t bad enough, the Tribune’s analysis also determined O’Hare has some of the longest outgoing airplane taxi times, too.
Planes departing from O’Hare took more than 28 minutes on average to taxi from the gate before lift-off.
The only other U.S. airport with longer outgoing taxi times is John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City at just under 29 minutes on average.
Midway boasts brief taxi times compared to O’Hare
When it comes to taxi times, O’Hare’s South Side counterpart, Midway Airport, is the definitive champ.
The Tribune’s report found that outgoing taxi times at Midway averaged a little over 15 minutes, while incoming taxi times averaged just shy of 5 minutes.
What’s causing the sky-high taxi times
So what exactly is driving O’Hare’s sky-high average taxi times?
According to the Tribune, it’s a combination of factors including ongoing and overlapping construction projects, the distance of O’Hare’s runways from its terminals, and the volume of airport traffic.
You may remember earlier this year that the Airports Council International (ACI) named O’Hare the busiest airfield in the world.
The ACI found O’Hare tracked 860,015 aircraft operations in 2025, and an average of one takeoff or landing every 37 seconds.
What the numbers mean for your travel plans
With the busy holiday travel season in Chicago just around the corner, you may be wondering what extended taxi times at O’Hare mean for your upcoming flight plans.
Here’s the good news—airlines preemptively incorporate taxi times into their schedules. Hence, long taxi periods don’t typically translate to delays or missed flight connections, according to the Tribune.
So while idling around the runway can be headache-inducing, rest assured, taxiing is unlikely to negatively impact your travel itinerary.
