Route profile
FLL→MDW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago, 1,167 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 33% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,555 flights. How this is calculated
FLL → MDW arrives on time 74.1% of the time; the return trip, MDW → FLL, arrives on time 76.2% of the time, a 2.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
FLL → MDW spends 22.6 minutes on the ground on a 1,167-mile trip: 17.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at FLL and 5.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at MDW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 95% of 4,023 comparable routes.
91.4% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 58.0% for 6–9 PM.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where FLL to MDW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
FLL to MDW struggles most at 6 PM: 53.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 14 points behind the 67.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 15.1 points.
Sunday is the day FLL to MDW slips furthest against routes of similar length, 67.2% on time where they average 73.4%, 6.2 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 7.6 points.
In March, FLL to MDW runs 10.7 points below routes of similar length, 64.8% on time to 75.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 13.1 points.
FLL to MDW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 53.5% | routes of similar length | 67.5% | −14.0 pts | 310 here, 146,072 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 67.2% | routes of similar length | 73.4% | −6.2 pts | 534 here, 331,796 there |
| Month: March | 64.8% | routes of similar length | 75.5% | −10.7 pts | 344 here, 202,142 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 1,167 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
50 min late
against a median of 1 min early
Percentiles over 3,555 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MDW after arriving from FLL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 46% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 16% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.0% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.4% | 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 1.32% of the time and diverts 0.65% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,485 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 50 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,555 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
FLL → MDW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.4% of the time, against 58.0% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 33.4 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 94.2% on time from 175 flights
- 6 AM: 90.5% on time from 527 flights
- 7 AM: 91.3% on time from 338 flights
- 8 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 82.8% on time from 262 flights
- 11 AM: 78.3% on time from 193 flights
- 12 PM: 72.1% on time from 279 flights
- 1 PM: 66.9% on time from 175 flights
- 2 PM: 67.8% on time from 240 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 60.1% on time from 152 flights
- 5 PM: 61.0% on time from 156 flights
- 6 PM: 53.5% on time from 319 flights
- 7 PM: 60.4% on time from 366 flights
- 8 PM: 62.4% on time from 128 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why FLL → 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
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for FLL → MDW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on FLL → MDW, at 51.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.4% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 58.0%.
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 | 3,555 | 74.1% | 1.32% | -1 min | 8.1% |
Other ways to fly Miami to Chicago
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA→ORD Miami to Chicago | 13,637 | 74.3% | 1.31% | -6 min | 56 |
| FLL→MDW this route Fort Lauderdale to Chicago | 3,555 | 74.1% | 1.32% | -1 min | 59 |
Flying to MDW from the Miami area? Compare FLL, MIA for MDW, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 14.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 74.8%
- Feb: 73.1%
- Mar: 64.8%
- Apr: 76.2%
- May: 71.2%
- Jun: 72.9%
- Jul: 68.3%
- Aug: 69.3%
- Sep: 80.1%
- Oct: 84.8%
- Nov: 84.8%
- Dec: 72.9%
March is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 20.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (98)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (80)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (80)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (91)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (94)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (101)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (104)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (99)
- March 2024: 59.4% from 137 flights
- April 2024: too few flights to score (108)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (100)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (85)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (81)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (107)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (103)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (97)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (88)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (111)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (100)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (101)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (95)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (97)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (85)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (81)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (91)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (95)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (97)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (98)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (91)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (109)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (97)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (97)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (93)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 71.0% against 80.7% in the 12 months before — declining by 9.7 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,555 FLL → 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