Kansas City to Chicago

What the Data Says About MCI to MDW

The Kansas City to Chicago corridor (MCI → MDW) covers roughly 405 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 11,928 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 85.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 59.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,259 flights were recorded on this pairing — 55 cancelled (1.3%) and 4 diverted (0.1%). 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 11,928 total flights analyzed, the 85.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 59.5-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 95% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 72% on-time — a 23-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MCI to MDW route, the combination of a 85.6% on-time rate, 59.5-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.