Airport month record
MDWDEC
Chicago Midway International in December 2025
- Departures
- 5,738
- Month
- December 2025
- National, same month
- 73.2%
- Carriers
- 4
Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at MDW, see live FAA status.
MDW in December sits in the middle of the pack with a C+. About seven flights in ten arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 4 points worse than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 5,738 flights, with a median arrival right on schedule.
Key figures
On time
69.7%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 5,705 completed departures
Avg delay
57 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.45%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
75.1%
MDW across all twelve months
These figures cover 5,738 departures from Chicago Midway International in December 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
December next to MDW's other months
Against MDW's own year, December ran 5 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 75.1%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for MDW in December, at 0.45% against 1.49% across the year. Either side of it, November ran 80.6% on time and January 80.9%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 7,531 | 67.2% | 69 min | 1.81% | C |
| August 2025 | 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 (this page) | 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 December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 22 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–8am659 flights81.0%
- 8am–11am1,533 flights76.5%
- 11am–2pm901 flights71.6%
- 2pm–5pm847 flights65.0%
- 5pm–8pm919 flights62.6%
- 8pm–5am879 flights59.2%
Scale runs 50% to 85%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 59.2% on time, against 81.0% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,533 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Thursday is the strongest day at 82.3% on time and Sunday the weakest at 55.8%. 27 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MDW in December
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 | 5,371 | 69.6% | 54 min | 0.26% | C+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 154 | 66.4% | 113 min | 1.30% | C |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 117 | 87.0% | 77 min | 7.69% | A− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 81 | 56.2% | 108 min | 1.23% | D |
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MDW in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDW to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 290 | 77.9% | 67 min | 3.10% | B− |
| MDW to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 242 | 66.7% | 56 min | 0.83% | C+ |
| MDW to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 241 | 75.1% | 62 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 214 | 61.8% | 73 min | 0.93% | D+ |
| MDW to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 198 | 62.9% | 70 min | 2.02% | D |
| MDW to DEN · Denverthin sample | 197 | 58.5% | 55 min | 1.02% | D |
| MDW to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 190 | 73.7% | 52 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 185 | 68.1% | 48 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 173 | 67.1% | 53 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 166 | 72.0% | 43 min | 0.60% | C+ |
| MDW to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 152 | 80.3% | 67 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 146 | 71.0% | 55 min | 0.68% | C+ |
| MDW to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 140 | 75.5% | 49 min | 0.71% | B+ |
| MDW to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 139 | 78.3% | 61 min | 0.72% | B+ |
| MDW to TPA · Tampathin sample | 135 | 71.1% | 60 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 122 | 66.4% | 66 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to OMA · Omahathin sample | 120 | 70.8% | 45 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 115 | 65.2% | 59 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 104 | 77.9% | 65 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to AUS · Austinthin sample | 104 | 65.4% | 42 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 98 | 66.3% | 49 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 94 | 67.0% | 59 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 91 | 69.2% | 56 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 90 | 73.3% | 53 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 89 | 77.5% | 49 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held MDW up in December
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 99,000 reported delay minutes.
- 40%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 25%National Airspace System
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
40% 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 99,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 12 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 98,543 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations are rare at 0.45%, below the national 1.55% 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.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 9.1% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 10.0% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from MDW in December
For a December trip through MDW: expect 69.7% on time and 0.45% cancelled, going by December 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 August77.8%
- MDW in September84.1%
- MDW in October80.2%
- MDW in November80.6%
- 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.