Flights Sacramento → Chicago
SMF → MDW
Route overview
The flight route from Sacramento to Chicago has an on-time performance rate of 88%, with an average delay of just 3.5 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees 147 flights connecting to one of the busiest airports in the United States, which serves approximately 19,916,643 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 Sacramento (SMF) → Chicago (MDW) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 178 flights monitored in recent months, 90% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 3 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.12%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 16.6/100 (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 Sacramento the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Sacramento (SMF) to Chicago (MDW) heads east for about 2,874 km, a flight time of roughly 4h 1m.
Departures from Sacramento on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 37% of SMF-MDW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Sacramento the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 178 tracked SMF-MDW flights, 90% left on time with an average delay of 3 min and a 1.1% 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 SMF-MDW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SMF-MDW
On the Sacramento (SMF) -> Chicago (MDW) route, on-time performance is 90% with an average delay of 3 minutes, based on 178 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Sacramento-Chicago is 1.12% across 178 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.
