New York to Chicago

What the Data Says About LGA to MDW

The New York to Chicago corridor (LGA → MDW) covers roughly 725 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 12,243 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 71.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,765 flights were recorded on this pairing — 132 cancelled (2.8%) and 15 diverted (0.3%). 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 12,243 total flights analyzed, the 80.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 71.0-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 58% on-time — a 33-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the LGA to MDW route, the combination of a 80.3% on-time rate, 71.0-minute average delay, 2.8% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.