Flights Seattle → Chicago
SEA → MDW
Route overview
The flight route from Seattle to Chicago operates with a high level of punctuality, achieving an on-time performance rate of 83%. Over the course of the year, there have been 146 flights along this route, with an average delay time of just 6 minutes. The destination airport in Chicago serves over 19 million passengers annually, making it one of the busiest airports in the country.
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 Seattle (SEA) → Chicago (MDW) route is operated by Southwest Airlines. Across 177 flights monitored in recent months, 84% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 6 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.69%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 21.2/100 (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 Seattle the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Seattle (SEA) to Chicago (MDW) heads east for about 2,782 km, a flight time of roughly 3h 54m.
Departures from Seattle on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 42% of SEA-MDW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Seattle the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 177 tracked SEA-MDW flights, 84% left on time with an average delay of 6 min and a 1.7% 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 SEA-MDW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SEA-MDW
On the Seattle (SEA) -> Chicago (MDW) route, on-time performance is 84% with an average delay of 6 minutes, based on 177 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Seattle-Chicago is 1.69% across 177 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.
