Flights Chicago → San Jose
MDW → SJC
Route overview
The flight route from Chicago to San Jose operates with a relatively high level of punctuality, achieving on-time performance for 73% of its flights. With an average delay of 16.6 minutes and a total of 127 flights recorded, this route serves the busy destination airport in San Jose, which handles over eleven 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) → San Jose (SJC) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 158 flights monitored in recent months, 73% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 19 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.53%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 23.5/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At San Jose the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to San Jose: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Chicago (MDW) to San Jose (SJC) heads west for about 2,950 km, a flight time of roughly 4h 6m.
Departures from Chicago on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 48% of MDW-SJC flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into San Jose it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 158 tracked MDW-SJC flights, 73% left on time with an average delay of 19 min and a 2.5% 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-SJC
Airports
Frequently asked questions about MDW-SJC
On the Chicago (MDW) -> San Jose (SJC) route, on-time performance is 73% with an average delay of 19 minutes, based on 158 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Chicago-San Jose is 2.53% across 158 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 San Jose, 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.