Airport month record
MDWJAN
Chicago Midway International in January 2026
- Departures
- 4,848
- Month
- January 2026
- National, same month
- 79.2%
- Carriers
- 4
Historical statistics for January 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s January. For today’s conditions at MDW, see live FAA status.
MDW in January lands a B, 2 points better than the national rate of 79.2%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about 50 minutes on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,848 flights, with a median arrival 7 minutes early.
Key figures
On time
80.9%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,739 completed departures
Avg delay
50 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
2.15%
Nationally in January: 4.71%
Whole year
75.1%
MDW across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,848 departures from Chicago Midway International in January 2026. 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
January next to MDW's other months
Against MDW's own year, January ran 6 points better than the twelve-month rate of 75.1%, which makes it number three of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, December ran 69.7% on time and February 81.6%, 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 | 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 (this page) | 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 January
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 15 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–8am484 flights89.8%
- 8am–11am1,383 flights83.7%
- 11am–2pm811 flights81.6%
- 2pm–5pm695 flights78.2%
- 5pm–8pm877 flights74.5%
- 8pm–5am598 flights78.7%
Scale runs 65% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 89.8% of the time, against 74.5% for the evening window. That is 15 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 1,383 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 90.0% on time and Sunday the weakest at 71.3%. 19 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MDW in January
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 | 4,538 | 81.8% | 45 min | 2.09% | B |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 109 | 58.5% | 90 min | 2.75% | D |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 106 | 83.0% | 105 min | 5.66% | B− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 85 | 62.4% | 101 min | 0.00% | D+ |
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MDW in January
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDW to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 279 | 81.6% | 67 min | 4.30% | B− |
| MDW to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 211 | 78.2% | 48 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 203 | 78.3% | 61 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 197 | 85.2% | 41 min | 4.06% | A− |
| MDW to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 186 | 73.7% | 80 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MDW to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 179 | 76.2% | 59 min | 6.15% | B− |
| MDW to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 161 | 81.9% | 62 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to DEN · Denverthin sample | 158 | 81.0% | 42 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 156 | 84.5% | 45 min | 5.13% | B− |
| MDW to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 151 | 84.0% | 51 min | 0.66% | B+ |
| MDW to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 132 | 87.2% | 53 min | 5.30% | A− |
| MDW to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 129 | 85.3% | 36 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MDW to TPA · Tampathin sample | 128 | 78.9% | 42 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 127 | 88.5% | 53 min | 3.94% | A− |
| MDW to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 120 | 84.2% | 48 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 102 | 74.0% | 48 min | 0.98% | C+ |
| MDW to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 97 | 72.9% | 35 min | 1.03% | C |
| MDW to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 96 | 76.0% | 46 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MDW to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 96 | 79.6% | 50 min | 3.12% | B− |
| MDW to OMA · Omahathin sample | 93 | 76.1% | 37 min | 1.08% | B |
| MDW to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 89 | 89.3% | 55 min | 5.62% | A− |
| MDW to AUS · Austinthin sample | 88 | 81.4% | 45 min | 2.27% | B |
| MDW to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 88 | 78.8% | 65 min | 3.41% | B− |
| MDW to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 86 | 78.3% | 45 min | 3.49% | B− |
| MDW to CLE · Clevelandthin sample | 71 | 79.7% | 43 min | 2.82% | B |
Delay causes
What held MDW up in January
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 46,000 reported delay minutes.
- 40%Carrier
- 31%National Airspace System
- 25%Late-arriving aircraft
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 40%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. Unlike weather, that is a management outcome, and it is the category where the gap between two carriers on the same schedule is genuinely earned. It accounts for 18,000 of the 46,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 45,581 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 2.15% against a national 4.71%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.10%.
Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 4.5% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 7.6% nationally. Connections built on this flight are about as safe as US domestic connections get, though a cancelled flight still ignores every layover you give it.
What to do with this
Flying from MDW in January
For a January trip through MDW: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 80.9% on time with 2.15% cancelled. That is a base rate for the month as a whole; a single storm can still spoil a particular 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 December69.7%
- 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.