Flights Chicago → Houston
MDW → HOU
Route overview
The flight route from Chicago to Houston has a punctuality rate of 72%, with an average delay of 12.2 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 430 flights, serving one of the busiest airports in its destination city, which handles nearly 13.9 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 Chicago (MDW) → Houston (HOU) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 558 flights monitored in recent months, 72% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 14 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.33%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 22.7/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Houston the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Houston: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Chicago (MDW) to Houston (HOU) heads south-west for about 1,510 km, a flight time of roughly 2h 18m.
Departures from Chicago on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 40% of MDW-HOU flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Houston it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 558 tracked MDW-HOU flights, 72% left on time with an average delay of 14 min and a 2.3% 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 MDW-HOU
Airports
Frequently asked questions about MDW-HOU
On the Chicago (MDW) -> Houston (HOU) route, on-time performance is 72% with an average delay of 14 minutes, based on 558 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Chicago-Houston is 2.33% across 558 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 Houston, 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.
