Route profile
MDW→CLE
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to Cleveland, 307 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 67% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,682 flights. How this is calculated
MDW → CLE arrives on time 79.6% of the time; the return trip, CLE → MDW, arrives on time 83.8% of the time, a 4.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
MDW → CLE spends 19.0 minutes on the ground on a 307-mile trip: 14.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MDW and 5.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at CLE.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where MDW to CLE differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
MDW to CLE is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 10 AM: 94.4% arrive on time, 9.9 points ahead of the 84.5% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 11.7 points.
Saturday is the day MDW to CLE slips furthest against routes of similar length, 76.9% on time where they average 81.8%, 4.9 points lower.
MDW to CLE holds up on Wednesdays better than routes of similar length do: 85.7% on time to their 82.3%, a 3.4 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 4.9 points.
September is kinder to MDW to CLE than to routes of similar length: 88.8% on time against 83.2%, 5.6 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.4 points.
MDW to CLE against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 AM departures | 94.4% | routes of similar length | 84.5% | +9.9 pts | 213 here, 60,053 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 76.9% | routes of similar length | 81.8% | −4.9 pts | 368 here, 101,949 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 85.7% | routes of similar length | 82.3% | +3.4 pts | 537 here, 121,836 there |
| Month: September | 88.8% | routes of similar length | 83.2% | +5.6 pts | 347 here, 71,290 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 307 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
36 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 3,682 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at CLE after arriving from MDW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 20% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.5% | 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 1.00% of the time and diverts 0.14% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,640 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 36 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,682 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
MDW → CLE flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.3% of the time, against 61.1% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 30.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 94.4% on time from 162 flights
- 8 AM: 89.8% on time from 349 flights
- 9 AM: 87.8% on time from 339 flights
- 10 AM: 94.4% on time from 213 flights
- 11 AM: 82.5% on time from 140 flights
- 12 PM: 88.0% on time from 252 flights
- 1 PM: 85.1% on time from 211 flights
- 2 PM: 72.5% on time from 225 flights
- 3 PM: 80.1% on time from 247 flights
- 4 PM: 77.5% on time from 250 flights
- 5 PM: 68.9% on time from 181 flights
- 6 PM: 68.8% on time from 253 flights
- 7 PM: 74.9% on time from 283 flights
- 8 PM: 78.9% on time from 179 flights
- 9 PM: 65.6% on time from 288 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why MDW → CLE 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 MDW → CLE. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MDW → CLE, at 51.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.3% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 61.1%.
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 | 3,682 | 79.6% | 1.00% | -5 min | 5.9% |
Other ways to fly Chicago to Cleveland
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD→CLE Chicago to Cleveland | 11,752 | 74.5% | 2.08% | -4 min | 51 |
| MDW→CLE this route Chicago to Cleveland | 3,682 | 79.6% | 1.00% | -5 min | 72 |
MDW → CLE is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 79.6% on time, against 74.5% for ORD → CLE.
Flying to CLE from the Chicago area? Compare MDW, ORD for CLE, 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 11.8 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.5%
- Feb: 86.0%
- Mar: 79.3%
- Apr: 82.5%
- May: 79.3%
- Jun: 74.7%
- Jul: 70.4%
- Aug: 75.5%
- Sep: 88.8%
- Oct: 84.5%
- Nov: 82.6%
- Dec: 77.6%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 18.4 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 59.8% from 130 flights
- August 2023: 68.8% from 139 flights
- September 2023: 81.1% from 133 flights
- October 2023: 81.0% from 142 flights
- November 2023: too few flights to score (115)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (116)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (98)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (87)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (100)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (98)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (103)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (101)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (103)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (107)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (86)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (87)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (72)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (71)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (86)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (86)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (108)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (114)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (108)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (108)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (94)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (84)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (89)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (71)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (71)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (87)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (86)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (87)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (109)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (115)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.6% against 83.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.5 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,682 MDW → CLE 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