Historical on-time performance
Chicago to San Diego
1,728 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on MDW–SAN arrive on time 73% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate73%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay40 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled1.0%of scheduled flights
based on 1,066 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time73%Medianon timep9040 minCancel1.0%Flights1,066
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline39%
- Weather2%
- Air traffic (NAS)22%
- Late aircraft37%
- Security1%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Airline.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline18%
- Weather82%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 11 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly MDW → SAN
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 85% on time.
- Mornings85% on time · p90 20 min · 1,122 flights
- Middays75% on time · p90 40 min · 729 flights
- Evenings71% on time · p90 40 min · 307 flights
- Afternoons66% on time · p90 45 min · 385 flights
- Overnights59% on time · p90 55 min · 642 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 70% to 79% on time.
- Wednesdays79% on time · p90 35 min · 440 flights
- Saturdays76% on time · p90 40 min · 385 flights
- Tuesdays74% on time · p90 35 min · 438 flights
- Mondays74% on time · p90 40 min · 488 flights
- Fridays73% on time · p90 40 min · 496 flights
- Thursdays72% on time · p90 40 min · 492 flights
- Sundays70% on time · p90 40 min · 446 flights
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