Historical on-time performance
Seattle to Chicago
1,733 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SEA–MDW arrive on time 79% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate79%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay35 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.2%of scheduled flights
based on 557 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time79%Medianon timep9035 minCancel0.2%Flights557
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline35%
- Weather0%
- Air traffic (NAS)13%
- Late aircraft51%
- Security1%
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 SEA → MDW
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 — 90% on time.
- Mornings90% on time · p90 10 min · 820 flights
- Overnights75% on time · p90 40 min · 119 flights · limited
- Middays64% on time · p90 40 min · 635 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 73% to 80% on time.
- Mondays80% on time · p90 30 min · 243 flights
- Tuesdays80% on time · p90 25 min · 245 flights
- Sundays79% on time · p90 35 min · 227 flights
- Saturdays79% on time · p90 25 min · 222 flights
- Wednesdays79% on time · p90 35 min · 245 flights
- Thursdays73% on time · p90 30 min · 240 flights
- Fridays73% on time · p90 30 min · 240 flights
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