Route profile
BUR→MDW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Burbank to Chicago, 1,740 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 99% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 935 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
BUR → MDW arrives on time 88.6% of the time; the return trip, MDW → BUR, arrives on time 75.4% of the time, a 13.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
BUR → MDW spends 19.9 minutes on the ground on a 1,740-mile trip: 15.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at BUR and 4.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at MDW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route stays close to typical even on its worst days, a smaller gap than 96% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 9 min early, and the worst tenth are only 26 minutes worse than that.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where BUR to MDW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
BUR to MDW is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 11 AM: 90.0% arrive on time, 11.6 points ahead of the 78.4% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9 points.
BUR to MDW holds up on Saturdays better than routes of similar length do: 91.4% on time to their 78.7%, a 12.7 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 12.3 points.
July is kinder to BUR to MDW than to routes of similar length: 85.4% on time against 69.9%, 15.5 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 15.7 points.
Southwest Airlines does better on BUR to MDW than on its routes of similar length: 88.6% on time here, 75.0% there, 13.6 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 11.2 points.
BUR to MDW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 90.0% | routes of similar length | 78.4% | +11.6 pts | 201 here, 82,041 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 91.4% | routes of similar length | 78.7% | +12.7 pts | 128 here, 188,046 there |
| Month: July | 85.4% | routes of similar length | 69.9% | +15.5 pts | 164 here, 165,076 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 88.6% | routes of similar length | 75.0% | +13.6 pts | 928 here, 263,108 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 1,740 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
17 min late
against a median of 9 min early
Percentiles over 935 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MDW after arriving from BUR.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 28% | High risk |
| 45 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 5.4% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 3.0% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 1.7% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 0.32% of the time and diverts 0.43% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 928 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 17 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 935 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
BUR → MDW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 93.1% of the time, against 80.1% for 12–3 PM departures, a gap of 13.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 94.5% on time from 276 flights
- 8 AM to 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 90.0% on time from 204 flights
- 12 PM: 86.4% on time from 162 flights
- 1 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why BUR → MDW runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
screening or terminal security incidents
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for BUR → MDW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on BUR → MDW, at 42.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 93.1% of the time and 12–3 PM departures 80.1%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 935 | 88.6% | 0.32% | -9 min | 3.0% |
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Chicago
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX→ORD Los Angeles to Chicago | 21,167 | 80.9% | 1.29% | -9 min | 67 |
| BUR→MDW this route Burbank to Chicago | 935 | 88.6% | 0.32% | -9 min | 91 |
BUR → MDW is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 88.6% on time, against 80.9% for LAX → ORD.
Flying to MDW from the Los Angeles area? Compare BUR, LAX, SNA, ONT for MDW, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 87.7% against 89.7% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 935 BUR → MDW flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed