Flights New Orleans → Chicago
MSY → MDW
Route overview
The flight route from New Orleans to Chicago has a punctuality rate of 69%, with an average delay of 16.7 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 253 flights, serving one of the busiest airports in the destination city, 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 New Orleans (MSY) → Chicago (MDW) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 321 flights monitored in recent months, 70% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 16 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.80%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 20.9/100 (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 New Orleans the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from New Orleans (MSY) to Chicago (MDW) heads north for about 1,330 km, a flight time of roughly 2h 5m.
Departures from New Orleans on this leg cluster in the morning window: about 42% of MSY-MDW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing New Orleans the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 321 tracked MSY-MDW flights, 70% left on time with an average delay of 16 min and a 2.8% 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 MSY-MDW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about MSY-MDW
On the New Orleans (MSY) -> Chicago (MDW) route, on-time performance is 70% with an average delay of 16 minutes, based on 321 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on New Orleans-Chicago is 2.80% across 321 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.
