Airport month record
MDWAUG
Chicago Midway International in August 2025
- Departures
- 6,731
- Month
- August 2025
- National, same month
- 77.4%
- Carriers
- 5
Historical statistics for August 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s August. For today’s conditions at MDW, see live FAA status.
MDW in August lands a B+, level with the national rate of 77.4%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 6,731 flights, with a median arrival 3 minutes early.
Key figures
On time
77.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 6,653 completed departures
Avg delay
58 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.74%
Nationally in August: 1.08%
Whole year
75.1%
MDW across all twelve months
These figures cover 6,731 departures from Chicago Midway International in August 2025. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
August next to MDW's other months
Against MDW's own year, August ran 3 points better than the twelve-month rate of 75.1%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for MDW in August, at 0.74% against 1.49% across the year. Either side of it, July ran 67.2% on time and September 84.1%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 7,531 | 67.2% | 69 min | 1.81% | C |
| August 2025 (this page) | 6,731 | 77.8% | 58 min | 0.74% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 6,459 | 84.1% | 46 min | 0.06% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 6,536 | 80.2% | 45 min | 0.17% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 5,620 | 80.6% | 59 min | 4.96% | B− |
| December 2025 | 5,738 | 69.7% | 57 min | 0.45% | C+ |
| January 2026 | 4,848 | 80.9% | 50 min | 2.15% | B |
| February 2026 | 4,537 | 81.6% | 46 min | 0.90% | B+ |
| March 2026 | 6,508 | 68.7% | 67 min | 3.89% | C− |
| April 2026 | 6,282 | 77.6% | 52 min | 1.18% | B |
| May 2026 | 6,269 | 74.0% | 53 min | 0.35% | C+ |
| June 2026 | 6,937 | 64.2% | 60 min | 1.53% | D |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave MDW in August
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 26 points, against half a point between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am726 flights92.1%
- 8am–11am1,699 flights85.9%
- 11am–2pm1,141 flights80.5%
- 2pm–5pm1,078 flights72.2%
- 5pm–8pm1,181 flights68.2%
- 8pm–5am906 flights66.6%
Scale runs 60% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 92.1% of the time, against 66.6% for the overnight window. That is 26 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,699 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 84.0% on time and Sunday the weakest at 73.7%. 10 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MDW in August
Only one carrier clears this site's 365-flight floor here, so there is no comparison to draw. The table below is the full picture.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 6,248 | 77.5% | 56 min | 0.70% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 165 | 84.2% | 69 min | 1.82% | B |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 158 | 76.3% | 63 min | 1.27% | B |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 121 | 87.5% | 71 min | 0.83% | A+ |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 39 | 76.9% | 309 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MDW in August
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDW to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 305 | 80.7% | 58 min | 1.31% | B |
| MDW to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 237 | 74.2% | 64 min | 0.42% | C+ |
| MDW to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 227 | 71.7% | 59 min | 0.44% | C+ |
| MDW to DEN · Denverthin sample | 226 | 73.9% | 62 min | 0.44% | C+ |
| MDW to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 215 | 83.3% | 58 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 213 | 84.2% | 55 min | 1.41% | B |
| MDW to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 202 | 74.5% | 63 min | 0.99% | C+ |
| MDW to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 193 | 79.6% | 64 min | 0.52% | B+ |
| MDW to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 189 | 78.8% | 63 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 184 | 77.3% | 54 min | 1.63% | B |
| MDW to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 181 | 76.0% | 54 min | 0.55% | B+ |
| MDW to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 168 | 77.2% | 51 min | 0.60% | B+ |
| MDW to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 166 | 74.5% | 46 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 159 | 76.3% | 65 min | 1.89% | B |
| MDW to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 155 | 76.5% | 58 min | 0.65% | B+ |
| MDW to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 154 | 84.3% | 63 min | 0.65% | B+ |
| MDW to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 134 | 73.9% | 59 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to TPA · Tampathin sample | 129 | 79.8% | 47 min | 0.78% | B+ |
| MDW to OMA · Omahathin sample | 125 | 82.3% | 73 min | 0.80% | B+ |
| MDW to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 121 | 75.2% | 61 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 119 | 83.2% | 72 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 112 | 80.9% | 52 min | 1.79% | B |
| MDW to CLE · Clevelandthin sample | 108 | 78.5% | 57 min | 0.93% | B+ |
| MDW to AUS · Austinthin sample | 107 | 82.2% | 49 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 93 | 81.5% | 60 min | 1.08% | B |
Delay causes
What held MDW up in August
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 44% of the 86,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 44%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 17%National Airspace System
- 7%Extreme weather
- 1%Security
44% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 86,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 7 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 85,754 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations are rare at 0.74%, below the national 1.08% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.
6.2% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 8.2%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from MDW in August
For a August trip through MDW: expect 77.8% on time and 0.74% cancelled, going by August 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Chicago Midway International (MDW), the whole year
- MDW in July67.2%
- MDW in September84.1%
- MDW in October80.2%
- MDW in November80.6%
- MDW in December69.7%
- MDW in January80.9%
- MDW in February81.6%
- MDW in March68.7%
- MDW in April77.6%
- MDW in May74.0%
- MDW in June64.2%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.