Los Angeles (LAX) – Chicago (MDW)
- Distance
- 2,817 km
- 1,750 mi · 1,521 nm
- Flight time
- 3 h 47 min / 4 h 20 min
- Average gate to gate: LAX → MDW / back
- Time difference
- 2 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 354 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (209 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 373,375
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −5.1%
- Flights / week
- 49
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 86%
- 432,837 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 1
- WN
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 LAX
- 63°
- Heading from MDW
- 262°
- Halfway point
- 38.88, -103.91
- Great-circle km
- 2,812 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air LAX → MDW
- 3 h 28 min
- In the air MDW → LAX
- 3 h 54 min
- Clocks
- Chicago is 2 h ahead of Los Angeles
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 5 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 36,040 |
| Sep 2025 | 32,688 |
| Oct 2025 | 35,078 |
| Nov 2025 | 28,360 |
| Dec 2025 | 34,111 |
| Jan 2026 | 25,723 |
| Feb 2026 | 22,495 |
| Mar 2026 | 29,476 |
| Apr 2026 | 28,994 |
| May 2026 | 31,597 |
| Jun 2026 | 33,559 |
| Jul 2026 | 35,254 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 239 |
| Sep 2025 | 233 |
| Oct 2025 | 238 |
| Nov 2025 | 203 |
| Dec 2025 | 229 |
| Jan 2026 | 193 |
| Feb 2026 | 168 |
| Mar 2026 | 200 |
| Apr 2026 | 202 |
| May 2026 | 210 |
| Jun 2026 | 217 |
| Jul 2026 | 231 |
Airlines flying LAX–MDW nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 49 | 100% |
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 · 1,395 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 728 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 440 flights
Also carried: 1,175 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 73.4%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 14 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.8%
- Flights counted
- 2,596
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
Delay minutes by cause: airline 42% · aircraft arriving late 40% · air traffic system 17% · 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
- $271
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $224
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 96% of passengers · $272
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 3% of passengers · $174
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $209 · Q3 2025 $208 · Q4 2025 $227 · Q1 2026 $271).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $277, likely $239–$315
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 6.8%). 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: 2,812 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 Los Angeles and Chicago
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Chicago airports