MDW Airport: 76.4% on time, worst at 10 PM

MDW right now

Live conditions where a permitted source publishes them, and the historical record where none does.

No disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Aviation weatherVFR

44°F · wind 6 kt

Minimal operational impact. Conditions are not a notable factor for operations right now.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Forecast issued 05:26Z.

Updated 05:26 UTC

Aircraft seen now

On the field0

Airborne within 15 NM0

Departed in the last hour0

Arrived in the last hour0

Below 10,000 ft, so aircraft overflying at cruise are not counted. These are observations, not an operational status: a count is a floor, since receiver coverage varies and a movement between two samples can be missed.

Updated 08:42 UTC

Aircraft observations from ADSB.lol (opens in a new tab) (Katia Esposito and contributing feeders), under the ODbL 1.0 (opens in a new tab). Derived data.

Parking

Daily Garage $43/day$43.00/day

Daily Lot $30/day$30.00/day

Econ Park $15/day$15.00/day

Hourly Garage—

This airport’s live space counts stopped updating more than 6 hours ago, so they are not shown. Published rates are unaffected.

FlyerIntel shows live values only where a permitted source provides them. Sections without data are left empty rather than estimated.

Airport reliability

Departures from MDW, July 2023 – July 2026.

Airport Reliability Score

65/ 100Good

Better than 46% of major US airports covered by FlyerIntel (64 compared)

Calculated from 240,485 flights. How this is calculated

Departures arriving on time

76.4%

181,050 of 236,846 completed

Cancellation rate

1.24%

2,985 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-3 min

Average 7.4 min

Severe delays

6.8%

Arrived 60+ minutes late

Delay when late

57 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Departures analyzed

240,485

240,488 arrivals

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

How this airport compares to others like it, not just to itself.

On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 94% of 302 comparable airports.

89.1% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 58.5% for 9 PM–5 AM.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other airport with the same kind of figure and at least 302 in the comparison.

Why flights are cancelled at MDW

Every cancellation carries a reason code filed by the airline that operated the flight. Departures, July 2023 – July 2026.

Extreme weather accounts for 73.7% of cancelled departures from MDW — about 1 in every 109 scheduled departures. That is 14 points higher than the 59.5% recorded across every airport FlyerIntel covers.

Share of cancellations

Weather73.7%

Airline17.7%

Air traffic8.6%

Security0.0%

Of 2,985 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 109

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

2,199 cancellations, 73.7% of the total.

The airline1 in 455

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

528 cancellations, 17.7% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 932

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

258 cancellations, 8.6% of the total.

Security—

A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.

0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.

2,985 of 240,485 scheduled departures from MDW were cancelled. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026 · Reason codes are each airline’s own filing, not an independent finding of fault. Shown for airports with at least 500 coded cancellations; 2,985 were recorded at MDW.

Why flights run late at MDW

Where US DOT attributed the delay minutes on departures from MDW.

Late-arriving aircraft43.8%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline33.0%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control18.9%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather4.0%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.3%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for departures from MDW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Of the 56,121 departures from MDW that left 15 or more minutes late and have a known inbound aircraft, 52% followed a flight that landed 15 or more minutes late. The other 48% left late even though the aircraft had come in on time or early. Across the 64 covered airports that share runs from 47% to 73%, with a median of 62%; MDW’s is the 10th lowest.

The late flight is the one the same aircraft flew into MDW just before, found from the tail number in the DOT file. Airlines and hours differ from one airport to the next, so this describes the departures from MDW and does not rate the airport.

An airport is only partly the author of its own delays. Late-arriving aircraft describes the national schedule arriving here more than anything about this airfield. Air traffic control covers airspace and airport capacity, which is where a congested airport shows up; only the airline category sits squarely inside the carriers’ own operation. How differently they run it is further down this page.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What weather costs at MDW

Departures from MDW by the weather at the airport in the hour they were scheduled to leave, July 2023 – July 2026.

11.1% of scheduled departures from MDW left in an hour of bad weather. 5.0% of them were cancelled, against 0.8% in normal conditions, and 62.3% of the ones that flew arrived on time, against 78.1%. Those hours held 45% of all cancelled departures. That is about 1,130 more cancellations than the normal-conditions rate would give.

Cancellations were highest in fog hours: 26.8% of 751 departures, 34.8 times the normal rate.

Airlines filed 74% of MDW’s coded cancellations under extreme weather. By the weather at the airport in the scheduled hour, 45% of cancelled departures were in bad-weather hours. A code is the airline’s stated reason and an hour’s weather is what the airport reported, so the two need not match.

By weather

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Cancellation and on-time rates at MDW by the weather at the airport in the scheduled departure hour
Weather at the airport	Departures	Cancelled	Left on time	Arrived on time	Avg. departure delay
Normal conditionsVFR with no thunderstorm, snow or ice, fog, heavy rain or high wind	184,77876.8% of all	0.8%	74.4%	78.1%	12.7 min
Any bad weatherIFR or LIFR, or a thunderstorm, snow or ice, fog, heavy rain or high wind	26,59811.1% of all	5.0%6.5 times normal	65.8%	62.3%15.8 points below normal	24.4 min
MVFRceiling 1,000 to 3,000 feet or visibility 3 to 5 miles	33,71514.0% of all	1.3%1.7 times normal	75.2%	75.9%2.2 points below normal	13.3 min
IFRceiling 500 to 999 feet or visibility 1 to under 3 miles	10,4004.3% of all	4.4%5.7 times normal	67.5%	63.0%15.1 points below normal	23.1 min
LIFRceiling under 500 feet or visibility under 1 mile	3,6021.5% of all	12.5%16.2 times normal	62.2%	56.2%21.9 points below normal	37.5 min
Thunderstorma thunderstorm reported at the airport	3,7951.6% of all	9.4%12.2 times normal	39.0%	32.1%46.0 points below normal	61.7 min
Snow or icesnow, snow grains, ice pellets, freezing rain or freezing drizzle	7,4873.1% of all	6.6%8.6 times normal	66.9%	54.1%24.0 points below normal	19.2 min
Fogfog or freezing fog reported at the airport	7510.3% of all	26.8%34.8 times normal	59.6%	49.0%29.1 points below normal	62.8 min
Heavy rainheavy rain reported at the airport	1,1650.5% of all	7.8%10.2 times normal	30.7%	24.6%53.5 points below normal	76.1 min
High windwind of 25 knots or more, or gusts of 30 knots or more	7,4143.1% of all	3.7%4.9 times normal	66.6%	66.6%11.5 points below normal	23.2 min
Low ceilinga broken or overcast layer under 1,000 feet	10,4654.4% of all	6.7%8.8 times normal	71.4%	68.5%9.6 points below normal	21.5 min
Low visibilityvisibility under 3 miles	8,3583.5% of all	9.3%12.1 times normal	60.7%	52.3%25.8 points below normal	34.4 min

A departure is counted in every row its hour fits, so the rows overlap and do not add up. Left on time is a departure under 15 minutes late, and arrived on time an arrival under 15 minutes late; cancelled is the share of scheduled departures. Rows with fewer than 120 departures are not scored.

This is the weather reported at MDW in the hour a flight was scheduled to leave. It leaves out the weather at the destination and on the way, weather that arrived after the scheduled time, and anything else that goes wrong in a bad hour. An hour takes the worst conditions any report in it gave. Weather was matched to 100.0% of the airport’s scheduled departures; the rest left in hours with no report, or at a scheduled time the flight records cannot place exactly. Bad-weather hours are compared with normal hours at the same airport, not with what the same flights would have done in a clear sky: they also fall more often in some seasons and at some times of day.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records and Iowa Environmental Mesonet weather reports · July 2023 – July 2026 · Where the weather comes from, and its limits. All covered airports side by side: What Weather Costs Each Airport.

Which airlines hold up in bad weather at MDW

Cancellations by airline in hours of bad weather at MDW, against the other carriers in the same months, July 2023 – July 2026.

11% of the weather-matched departures from MDW left in an hour of bad weather at the airport. 5.0% of them were cancelled. That is 6.5 times the 0.8% in normal hours, a steep climb. No one carrier holds most of them; 3 airlines have enough to compare.

No airline stood clearly apart from the others at MDW: each listed carrier’s bad-weather cancellation rate was within 1.1 points of what the other carriers did in the same months, or too close to tell given the number of departures.

Airlines in bad weather at MDW

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Cancellation rates by airline in hours of bad weather at MDW, against the other carriers in the same months and against the airline's own normal hours
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers	Normal hours
Delta Air Lines	5272% of bad-weather	3.8%	4.9%	1.4%others 0.7%
SkyWest Airlines	5692% of bad-weather	4.6%	4.6%	0.2%others 0.7%
Frontier Airlines	1,0094% of bad-weather	5.6%	4.7%	2.1%others 0.7%

Best first. The other carriers’ column applies their rate in each month to the airline’s own departures, so a stormy month is not held against it; the normal-hours column gives the same pair outside bad weather.

The 3 listed airlines flew 8% of the bad-weather departures at MDW; a carrier under 500 is not listed. The comparison does not hold the hour of the day, the destination or the aircraft fixed, and a gap counts as clear only at 2 standard errors and 0.3 points. SkyWest Airlines flies for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines and is counted as a carrier of its own here, though it shares the airport’s gates, its de-icing and often its decisions to cancel.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records and Iowa Environmental Mesonet weather reports · July 2023 – July 2026 · Where the weather comes from, and its limits. All covered airports side by side: What Weather Costs Each Airport.

Turning aircraft around at MDW

Time on the ground between one flight and the next of the same aircraft at MDW, and what a late arrival does to the next departure, July 2023 – July 2026.

The median turn at MDW is scheduled for 50 minutes on the ground and takes 59 minutes, against 56 minutes and 63 minutes across all airports. Aircraft are given less time on the ground here than at the typical airport. The typical turn runs 9 minutes over its schedule, more than the 7 minutes it does across all airports.

When the aircraft landed 15 or more minutes late (36,550 turns here, 51 minutes late on average), 57% of the turns were finished in no more than the scheduled ground time, against 68% across all airports. 78% of those flights left 15 or more minutes late, against 72%. After an aircraft that landed on time, 16% did (all airports 11%).

Given the turn lengths scheduled here, the network’s rates would give 64% finished in the schedule and 76% leaving late. MDW finishes fewer late turns in the schedule than the network would, but lateness is passed on about as often. 42% of its late-inbound turns had a scheduled turn of 45 to 59 minutes, against 31% across all airports.

Turns at MDW against all airports

200,970 turns, July 2023 – July 2026

Aircraft turns at MDW against all airports: scheduled and actual time on the ground and what a late inbound aircraft does
Measure	MDW	All airports	All airports, same turn lengths
Median scheduled turn	50 min	56 min	—
Median actual turn	59 min	63 min	—
Turns that began with an aircraft 15+ minutes late	18%	19%	—
Late turns finished within the schedule	57%	68%	64%
Late inbound that left 15+ minutes late	78%	72%	76%
On-time inbound that left 15+ minutes late	16%	11%	—

The last column is the network’s rate at the turn lengths scheduled at MDW, band by band from under 30 minutes to 3 to 6 hours. A turn finishes within the schedule when the aircraft spent no more time on the ground than the schedule gave it.

A turn pairs an aircraft’s landing at MDW with its next departure from it by tail number; the aircraft is never named. These 200,970 turns are 84% of the flights that left MDW in the period; the rest are an aircraft’s first flight after a long stay, flights without a usable inbound, and cancelled flights. Ground time runs from the gate. Turns under 30 minutes are kept, but most leave late even after an on-time landing. Airlines set their own turn schedules, so this describes the airlines that fly at MDW and does not rate the airport.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records · July 2023 – July 2026 · Airports side by side: Where a Late Aircraft Gets Its Time Back.

What sets MDW apart

Where MDW’s hours, months, airlines and taxi time differ most from the other airports, July 2023 – July 2026.

10 PM is where MDW falls furthest behind the rest: 57.4% of its 10 PM departures arrive on time, 14.7 points below the 72.1% for that hour elsewhere.

February treats MDW better than it treats the rest of the country: 84.3% on time against 81.1% elsewhere, 3.2 points ahead.

June is MDW’s hardest month against the field, 67.9% on time to 73.0% elsewhere, 5.1 points short.

Delta Air Lines does better out of MDW than anywhere else it flies: 86.1% on time here, 82.1% on its other departures, 4 points apart.

Taxi-out at MDW averages 14.4 minutes, 4.4 minutes less than the 18.8 minutes elsewhere.

MDW against the other airports

July 2023 – July 2026

Where MDW differs most from the other covered airports, with the flights behind each figure
Measure	MDW	Elsewhere	Gap	Flights behind it
Hour: 10 PM departures	57.4%	72.1%	−14.7 pts	6,027 here, 473,773 elsewhere
Month: February	84.3%	81.1%	+3.2 pts	14,409 here, 1,232,300 elsewhere
Month: June	67.9%	73.0%	−5.1 pts	21,380 here, 1,450,497 elsewhere
Airline: Delta Air Lines	86.1%	82.1%	+4.0 pts	4,387 here, 3,097,738 elsewhere
Taxi-out: Departures	14.4 min	18.8 min	−4.4 min	237,557 here, 17,392,552 elsewhere

"Elsewhere" is every other covered airport together, taken from the same aggregates as this page with MDW’s own flights removed (for airlines, that airline’s flights from all its other airports). Hours, months and airlines appear only where both sides have at least 120 completed flights (airlines 500) and the gap is at least 2 points and 2 standard errors; only the largest gap in each direction is shown. The taxi figure is weighted by departures and has no error estimate, so it appears from 2 minutes.

Best time to fly from MDW

On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time: each weekday and hour, and averaged over the week.

Flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.1% of the time, against 58.5% for 9 PM–5 AM departures — a gap of 30.6 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time.

Tuesday 5–6 AM was the most reliable slot at MDW (94.9% on time, 906 flights) and Sunday 9–10 PM the least (52.6%, 2,230 flights).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 9.9 points from the airport-wide rate, weekday averages 2.4 points.

On-time arrival rate at MDW by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM
10 PM–11 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

50–59
60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

Most reliable slot
Least reliable slot

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

Best and worst slots are named only among slots with 500+ flights, and only when the gap is larger than sampling error. Departures after 11 PM (63 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday at MDW. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	94.7% on time1,487 flights	94.9% on time906 flights	94.7% on time874 flights	94.7% on time1,510 flights	92.7% on time1,545 flights	92.2% on time983 flights	93.0% on time1,203 flights
6 AM–7 AM	89.6% on time1,595 flights	93.4% on time1,491 flights	91.5% on time1,506 flights	91.4% on time1,514 flights	90.4% on time1,584 flights	91.6% on time1,469 flights	91.1% on time1,682 flights
7 AM–8 AM	84.4% on time2,256 flights	89.6% on time1,811 flights	91.0% on time1,735 flights	88.9% on time2,301 flights	85.0% on time2,305 flights	85.5% on time1,589 flights	87.8% on time1,632 flights
8 AM–9 AM	87.4% on time2,616 flights	89.6% on time2,670 flights	87.8% on time2,728 flights	89.6% on time2,600 flights	84.9% on time2,574 flights	84.5% on time2,731 flights	85.3% on time2,910 flights
9 AM–10 AM	85.6% on time3,004 flights	87.4% on time2,629 flights	88.6% on time2,578 flights	85.0% on time2,933 flights	82.0% on time3,022 flights	87.5% on time2,356 flights	82.0% on time3,006 flights
10 AM–11 AM	82.0% on time2,115 flights	85.5% on time2,510 flights	87.0% on time2,554 flights	80.8% on time2,107 flights	77.5% on time2,080 flights	86.2% on time1,631 flights	81.8% on time1,986 flights
11 AM–12 PM	77.8% on time1,738 flights	82.0% on time1,428 flights	82.7% on time1,412 flights	79.9% on time1,767 flights	78.9% on time1,737 flights	84.2% on time1,304 flights	78.1% on time1,694 flights
12 PM–1 PM	77.5% on time2,087 flights	82.6% on time1,921 flights	84.1% on time1,944 flights	79.1% on time2,068 flights	77.4% on time2,103 flights	84.3% on time1,817 flights	78.4% on time1,793 flights
1 PM–2 PM	77.4% on time2,451 flights	83.2% on time2,478 flights	80.7% on time2,526 flights	78.5% on time2,471 flights	74.7% on time2,406 flights	82.5% on time1,615 flights	76.9% on time2,139 flights
2 PM–3 PM	70.5% on time1,986 flights	74.8% on time1,999 flights	73.7% on time1,999 flights	70.9% on time1,968 flights	70.0% on time1,998 flights	77.8% on time1,494 flights	70.9% on time1,696 flights
3 PM–4 PM	70.8% on time1,657 flights	74.8% on time1,609 flights	75.1% on time1,614 flights	69.8% on time1,580 flights	69.4% on time1,621 flights	72.6% on time1,697 flights	69.0% on time1,673 flights
4 PM–5 PM	67.5% on time1,494 flights	73.8% on time1,448 flights	68.7% on time1,460 flights	69.1% on time1,435 flights	69.0% on time1,508 flights	71.9% on time1,381 flights	67.3% on time1,579 flights
5 PM–6 PM	67.9% on time1,806 flights	71.6% on time2,069 flights	72.4% on time2,060 flights	63.6% on time1,796 flights	66.4% on time1,823 flights	70.6% on time2,259 flights	62.6% on time1,757 flights
6 PM–7 PM	68.9% on time2,575 flights	71.0% on time2,546 flights	69.9% on time2,579 flights	64.5% on time2,545 flights	66.7% on time2,454 flights	68.8% on time1,361 flights	63.4% on time2,138 flights
7 PM–8 PM	65.9% on time2,040 flights	67.5% on time1,934 flights	68.8% on time1,886 flights	63.4% on time2,005 flights	68.7% on time2,134 flights	72.3% on time1,987 flights	61.8% on time1,830 flights
8 PM–9 PM	65.8% on time2,484 flights	74.3% on time2,198 flights	74.2% on time2,269 flights	61.4% on time2,483 flights	62.7% on time2,462 flights	62.4% on time1,262 flights	60.0% on time2,489 flights
9 PM–10 PM	61.6% on time2,101 flights	61.4% on time1,658 flights	61.3% on time1,640 flights	57.5% on time2,083 flights	63.1% on time2,147 flights	54.7% on time1,041 flights	52.6% on time2,230 flights
10 PM–11 PM	63.0% on time1,105 flights	57.5% on time374 flights	58.3% on time326 flights	53.9% on time1,081 flights	60.0% on time1,176 flights	59.2% on time417 flights	53.7% on time1,699 flights

By departure window

All days combined

5–9 AM89.1%

9 AM–12 PM83.3%

12–3 PM77.5%

3–6 PM69.7%

6–9 PM66.8%

9 PM–5 AM58.5%

By departure hour

All days combined

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.

What parking will cost

Estimated from MDW's own published rates.

Where you would park

Arriving

Returning

Estimated cost

Choose a facility and both dates to see an estimate.

Rates as published by the airport, last read 2026-10-18. Confirm before you travel.

Source: Chicago Midway International Airport · An estimate from published standard rates. Airports vary surcharges, oversize vehicle fees and event pricing, so confirm the price with the airport before you travel.

International arrivals

How long passport control normally takes here, hour by hour and hall by hall. This is the arrivals queue, not departure security — and it is history, not a live wait.

At Main Terminal, MDW’s busiest hall, both passport queues run much the same: a typical 7 min on a US passport and 11 min on any other, rising to 23 min on a busy day. Where the two halls agree like this, CBP’s combined figure of 9 min is a fair summary of both — which is not true everywhere, and is why they are shown apart.

Terminal by terminal, across the day

Terminal by terminal, across the day
Terminal	US passports	US busy day	Other passports	Other busy day	Global Entry
Main Terminal	7 min	17 min	11 min	23 min	4.5% of arrivals

US passports — Main Terminal

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

US citizens and lawful permanent residents, who use the US-passport lanes.

All other passports — Main Terminal

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Every other arriving passenger, including visa and visa-waiver travelers.

Hour by hour — Main Terminal

Hour by hour — Main Terminal
Cleared in hour	US passports	US busy day	Other passports	Other busy day	Booths open
8 AM–9 AM	8 min	22 min	12 min	24 min	4
9 AM–10 AM	7 min	16 min	11 min	22 min	4
10 AM–11 AM	5 min	17 min	7 min	20 min	4
11 AM–12 PM	7 min	15 min	9 min	20 min	4
12 PM–1 PM	7 min	16 min	10 min	22 min	4
1 PM–2 PM	10 min	20 min	14 min	26 min	4
2 PM–3 PM	9 min	20 min	12 min	23 min	5
3 PM–4 PM	9 min	17 min	12 min	22 min	4
4 PM–5 PM	7 min	18 min	10 min	23 min	4
5 PM–6 PM	5 min	16 min	8 min	22 min	4
6 PM–7 PM	6 min	16 min	10 min	22 min	4
7 PM–8 PM	8 min	17 min	13 min	24 min	4
8 PM–9 PM	6 min	17 min	10 min	22 min	4
9 PM–10 PM	9 min	19 min	13 min	23 min	4

US passports: clearing in the 1 PM–2 PM hour typically takes 10 min, against 5 min in the 10 AM–11 AM hour — 6 min between the slowest and fastest of 14 measured hours.

All other passports: clearing in the 1 PM–2 PM hour typically takes 14 min, against 7 min in the 10 AM–11 AM hour — 7 min between the slowest and fastest of 14 measured hours.

The hour is when CBP processed the passenger, not when the aircraft landed — allow for the walk from the gate. Hours with fewer than 120 days of records are not listed rather than shown as an estimate, which is why a terminal’s quietest hours are usually absent. “Busy day” is the 90th percentile: one arrival in ten is worse than that. Booths are how many CBP had open, and they follow the queue rather than prevent it — the busiest hours are staffed hardest and are still the slowest.

Source: US Customs and Border Protection · 2024-08-28 to 2026-10-16 · These are CBP passport control waits for arriving international passengers — a different queue from TSA departure screening. CBP publishes them about two days in arrears, so every figure here describes what has been typical over 2024-08-28 to 2026-10-16, and none of it is a live queue or a forecast for your flight. US and non-US passengers are reported separately by CBP and are kept separate here, because they are separate halls. FlyerIntel publishes a terminal or an hour only where CBP filed at least 120 hourly records for it, and an hour-by-hour breakdown only where at least 6 hours clear that floor.

What to expect at MDW

How busy the airport is through the day, from scheduled departure volume.

Departures a day

213

Average across the analysis period

Busiest hour

9 AM

About 17 departures

Typical taxi-out

14.4 min

Pushback to wheels-up, on departure

Typical taxi-in

5.1 min

Touchdown to gate, on arrival

Scheduled departures by hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

The busiest hour is 9 AM, with about 17 departures a day, against roughly 9 at 4 PM. That peak is also more punctual than a typical hour here: early banks fly aircraft that spent the night on the ground rather than ones inheriting the day’s delays.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Taxi-out runs from gate to wheels-up, averaged over departures and weighted by hour. Taxi-in runs from touchdown to gate.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon75.8%

Tue79.4%

Wed79.3%

Thu75.1%

Fri74.7%

Sat78.6%

Sun72.9%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.5 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 19.7 percentage points.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Airlines at MDW

Departure performance by operating carrier. Regional flights are reported by the carrier that operated them, not by the mainline brand.

Airlines at MDW
Carrier	Departures	On time	Cancelled	Median delay
Southwest Airlines WN	220,288	76.4%	1.20%	-3 min
Frontier Airlines F9	9,319	71.4%	2.43%	-5 min
SkyWest Airlines OO	5,124	81.3%	0.64%	-9 min
Delta Air Lines DL	4,481	86.1%	1.65%	-15 min
Allegiant Air G4	1,273	74.5%	0.86%	-6 min

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 500 departures are not listed.

Routes from MDW

Ranked by FlyerIntel Route Reliability Score.

Most reliable

ATLAtlanta68

Least reliable

ATLAtlanta68

Busiest routes

Busiest routes from MDW
Destination	Flights	On time	Score
MDW → ATL Atlanta	11,324	80.4%	68

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Only routes with at least 10,000 flights are ranked.

See all 2 routes to and from MDW →

Reliability over time

On-time arrival rate for departures, by month.

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), departures from MDW arrived on time 75.3% of the time, against 79.7% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.4 percentage points.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Data and sources

Historical statistics

Every historical figure on this page is calculated by FlyerIntel from US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time performance records covering July 2023 – July 2026, comprising 240,485 departures from MDW. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule.

Full methodology · All data sources

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

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Chicago Midway International Airport on-time performance, from FlyerIntel

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Live conditions

Aviation weather comes from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center. Operational events come from the FAA where available. FlyerIntel shows the age of every live value and does not display data it cannot currently retrieve.

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Latest observation for MDW: METAR KMDW 180753Z 21006KT 10SM CLR 07/00 A3043 RMK AO2 SLP309 T00670000 (issued 07:53 UTC).