Chicago’s airports roll with one of busiest travel weekends on record

Chicago’s airports were expected to handle more than 1.7 million passengers over the Labor Day weekend, and even with travel at its peak on Monday, things proceeded smoothly at O’Hare and Midway.

According to the Chicago Department of Aviation, an estimated 1.75 million passengers were expected to use the airports over a period of six days, including nearly 1.44 million at O’Hare.

Monday was expected to be the busiest day of the weekend at O’Hare, with an estimated 270,000 travelers making their way through the airport.

“It took a little longer than it usually does, but still was pretty painless,” Taylor Voelker, who was headed home to Los Angeles, said. “We got here early, and it was pretty easy.”

According to officials, estimated passenger levels were expected to increase more than 10% over the same weekend in 2023, and a nearly 6% increase compared to 2019.

The national average for a gallon of gasoline was $3.31 this weekend, though a gallon of fuel averaged $3.65 in Illinois. It was still down from the more than $4 a gallon travelers saw in 2024, making road trips just as appealing.

“We’re from Wisconsin. We decided to come to Chicago because they had better rates, and we’re going to Baltimore,” Nicole Urquhart said.

According to the CDA’s website, there were just five flight cancellations at O’Hare and none at Midway on Monday, with average delays of under 15 minutes at each airport.