Historical on-time performance
Chicago to San Francisco
1,855 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on MDW–SFO arrive on time 68% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate68%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay40 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.7%of scheduled flights
based on 275 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time68%Medianon timep9040 minCancel0.7%Flights275
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline35%
- Weather3%
- Air traffic (NAS)27%
- Late aircraft35%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly MDW → SFO
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 74% on time.
- Mornings74% on time · p90 45 min · 231 flights
- Evenings62% on time · p90 60 min · 122 flights · limited
- Middays61% on time · p90 55 min · 274 flights
- Afternoons54% on time · p90 120 min · 238 flights
- Overnights47% on time · p90 95 min · 90 flights · limited
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 54% to 66% on time.
- Tuesdays66% on time · p90 75 min · 122 flights · limited
- Sundays66% on time · p90 80 min · 122 flights · limited
- Mondays64% on time · p90 60 min · 151 flights · limited
- Saturdays61% on time · p90 70 min · 140 flights · limited
- Wednesdays59% on time · p90 65 min · 134 flights · limited
- Thursdays59% on time · p90 75 min · 135 flights · limited
- Fridays54% on time · p90 75 min · 151 flights · limited
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