Flights Houston → Chicago
HOU → MDW
How long is the flight from Houston to Chicago?
The flight from Houston (HOU) to Chicago (MDW) takes about 2h 18m. This is an estimate based on the distance between the two airports: the real time depends on the aircraft, wind and any stops.
Route overview
The flight route from Houston to Chicago operates with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft and has an on-time performance rate of 72%, with an average delay of 15.5 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 4.27 million passengers traveling through its destination airport alone, 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 Houston (HOU) → Chicago (MDW) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 1113 flights monitored in recent months, 63% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 21 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.62%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 26.6/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Chicago the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Houston the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Houston (HOU) to Chicago (MDW) heads north-east for about 1,510 km, a flight time of roughly 2h 18m.
Departures from Houston on this leg cluster in the morning window: about 35% of HOU-MDW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Houston the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,113 tracked HOU-MDW flights, 63% left on time with an average delay of 21 min and a 1.6% 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) | 75% | 5 min | 0.3% |
Airlines operating HOU-MDW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about HOU-MDW
The flight from Houston (HOU) to Chicago (MDW) takes about 2h 18m. This is an estimate based on the distance between the two airports: the real time depends on the aircraft, wind and any stops.
On the Houston (HOU) -> Chicago (MDW) route, on-time performance is 63% with an average delay of 21 minutes, based on 1113 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Houston-Chicago is 1.62% across 1113 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.
