Houston to Chicago

What the Data Says About HOU to MDW

The Houston to Chicago corridor (HOU → MDW) covers roughly 937 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 10,734 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81% on-time rate with an average delay of 55.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,590 flights were recorded on this pairing — 52 cancelled (1.4%) and 13 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 1 carrier on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 10,734 total flights analyzed, the 81% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 55.3-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 96% on-time, while Jul 2025 came in at 65% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the HOU to MDW route, the combination of a 81% on-time rate, 55.3-minute average delay, 1.4% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.