Denver (DEN) – Chicago (MDW)
- Distance
- 1,441 km
- 895 mi · 778 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 14 min / 2 h 33 min
- Average gate to gate: DEN → MDW / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 181 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (107 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 626,385
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −15.9%
- Flights / week
- 85
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 84%
- 746,125 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- WN, F9
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DEN
- 76°
- Heading from MDW
- 267°
- Halfway point
- 41.13, -96.34
- Great-circle km
- 1,437 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DEN → MDW
- 1 h 53 min
- In the air MDW → DEN
- 2 h 11 min
- Clocks
- Chicago is 1 h ahead of Denver
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 30 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 66,288 |
| Sep 2025 | 58,404 |
| Oct 2025 | 58,514 |
| Nov 2025 | 47,477 |
| Dec 2025 | 53,102 |
| Jan 2026 | 40,393 |
| Feb 2026 | 35,953 |
| Mar 2026 | 46,861 |
| Apr 2026 | 42,194 |
| May 2026 | 48,119 |
| Jun 2026 | 63,640 |
| Jul 2026 | 65,440 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 447 |
| Sep 2025 | 408 |
| Oct 2025 | 427 |
| Nov 2025 | 353 |
| Dec 2025 | 387 |
| Jan 2026 | 318 |
| Feb 2026 | 276 |
| Mar 2026 | 327 |
| Apr 2026 | 314 |
| May 2026 | 326 |
| Jun 2026 | 418 |
| Jul 2026 | 437 |
Airlines flying DEN–MDW nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 83 | 96% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 2.8 | 4% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 2,016 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 1,367 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 910 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 141 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 4 flights
Also carried: 591 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 74.5%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 16 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.5%
- Flights counted
- 4,496
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 74.6% | 16 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 72.7% | 21 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 32% · aircraft arriving late 43% · air traffic system 23% · weather 2% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $187
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $167
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 97% of passengers · $188
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 2% of passengers · $141
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $156 · Q3 2025 $158 · Q4 2025 $179 · Q1 2026 $187).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $191, likely $165–$218
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 81% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 5.8%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q1, typically 5% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 1,437 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Denver and Chicago
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Denver airports · All Chicago airports