Flights New York → Chicago
LGA → MDW
Route overview
The flight route from New York to Chicago has a punctuality rate of 68%, with an average delay time of 18.9 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees 576 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 York (LGA) → Chicago (MDW) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 807 flights monitored in recent months, 70% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 18 minutes. The cancellation rate is 9.05%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 25.8/100 (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 York the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from New York (LGA) to Chicago (MDW) heads west for about 1,164 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 53m.
Departures from New York on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 38% of LGA-MDW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing New York the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 807 tracked LGA-MDW flights, 70% left on time with an average delay of 18 min and a 9.1% 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 LGA-MDW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about LGA-MDW
On the New York (LGA) -> Chicago (MDW) route, on-time performance is 70% with an average delay of 18 minutes, based on 807 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on New York-Chicago is 9.05% across 807 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.
