Chicago to Houston

What the Data Says About MDW to HOU

The Chicago to Houston corridor (MDW → HOU) covers roughly 937 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 10,712 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 52.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,602 flights were recorded on this pairing — 46 cancelled (1.3%) and 25 diverted (0.7%). 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 10,712 total flights analyzed, the 77.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 52.3-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 46% on-time — a 46-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MDW to HOU route, the combination of a 77.9% on-time rate, 52.3-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.