Flights Birmingham → Chicago
BHM → MDW
Route overview
The flight route from Birmingham to Chicago has an on-time performance rate of 86%, with flights typically experiencing a mean delay of just 10 minutes. Over the course of a year, this route sees 91 flights connecting Birmingham to one of the busiest airports in the United States, which handles nearly 19.9 million passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Birmingham (BHM) → Chicago (MDW) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 139 flights monitored in recent months, 89% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 7 minutes. The cancellation rate is 5.04%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 16.6/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Birmingham the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Birmingham (BHM) to Chicago (MDW) heads north for about 919 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 34m.
Departures from Birmingham on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 74% of BHM-MDW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Birmingham the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 139 tracked BHM-MDW flights, 89% left on time with an average delay of 7 min and a 5.0% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines (WN) | 73% | 6 min | 3.1% |
Airlines operating BHM-MDW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about BHM-MDW
On the Birmingham (BHM) -> Chicago (MDW) route, on-time performance is 89% with an average delay of 7 minutes, based on 139 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Birmingham-Chicago is 5.04% across 139 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: Southwest Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Chicago, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
