Flights Los Angeles → Chicago
LAX → MDW
Route overview
The flight route from Los Angeles to Chicago operates with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft and has an on-time performance rate of 70%, with an average delay of 14.9 minutes per flight. Over the past year, this route has seen 292 flights, connecting one of the oldest airports in Los Angeles, which opened in 1926, to a highly trafficked destination airport that serves 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 Los Angeles (LAX) → Chicago (MDW) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 385 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 3.12%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 22.5/100 (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 Los Angeles the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Los Angeles (LAX) to Chicago (MDW) heads north-east for about 2,812 km, a flight time of roughly 3h 56m.
Departures from Los Angeles on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 48% of LAX-MDW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Los Angeles the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 385 tracked LAX-MDW flights, 72% left on time with an average delay of 14 min and a 3.1% 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 LAX-MDW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about LAX-MDW
On the Los Angeles (LAX) -> Chicago (MDW) route, on-time performance is 72% with an average delay of 14 minutes, based on 385 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Los Angeles-Chicago is 3.12% across 385 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.
