Historical on-time performance
Chicago to San Francisco
1,855 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on MDW–SFO arrive on time 50% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate50%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay65 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled1.5%of scheduled flights
based on 392 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time50%Median10 minp9065 minCancel1.5%Flights392
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline26%
- Weather3%
- Air traffic (NAS)39%
- Late aircraft33%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS).
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline0%
- Weather83%
- Air traffic (NAS)17%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 6 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 → SFO
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 — 74% on time.
- Mornings74% on time · p90 45 min · 270 flights
- Evenings60% on time · p90 70 min · 130 flights · limited
- Afternoons54% on time · p90 110 min · 228 flights
- Middays54% on time · p90 60 min · 357 flights
- Overnights39% on time · p90 85 min · 170 flights · limited
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 51% to 62% on time.
- Tuesdays62% on time · p90 75 min · 145 flights · limited
- Saturdays61% on time · p90 65 min · 174 flights · limited
- Sundays60% on time · p90 65 min · 153 flights · limited
- Mondays59% on time · p90 60 min · 179 flights · limited
- Thursdays55% on time · p90 75 min · 166 flights · limited
- Wednesdays53% on time · p90 65 min · 156 flights · limited
- Fridays51% on time · p90 75 min · 182 flights · limited
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