Historical on-time performance
Chicago to Seattle
1,733 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on MDW–SEA arrive on time 64% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate64%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay50 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.5%of scheduled flights
based on 645 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time64%Medianon timep9050 minCancel0.5%Flights645
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline27%
- Weather3%
- Air traffic (NAS)23%
- Late aircraft46%
- Security1%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline33%
- Weather67%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 3 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 → SEA
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
On-time rates are fairly even by time of day on this route — ranging from 56% to 74% on time.
- Middays74% on time · p90 30 min · 469 flights
- Mornings73% on time · p90 35 min · 382 flights
- Evenings67% on time · p90 55 min · 172 flights · limited
- Afternoons58% on time · p90 60 min · 401 flights
- Overnights56% on time · p90 55 min · 333 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 63% to 72% on time.
- Wednesdays72% on time · p90 35 min · 256 flights
- Tuesdays69% on time · p90 45 min · 256 flights
- Mondays67% on time · p90 45 min · 258 flights
- Sundays66% on time · p90 50 min · 233 flights
- Thursdays63% on time · p90 45 min · 259 flights
- Fridays63% on time · p90 55 min · 259 flights
- Saturdays63% on time · p90 50 min · 236 flights
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