Is there a ground stop at MDW today?
No ground stop at MDW right now (as of 7:49 PM CST, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Chicago Midway International Airport. In the last 12 months the FAA issued 27 ground stops and 3 ground delay programs for MDW, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 25 days.
Live FAA delay status for Chicago Midway International Airport (KMDW, Chicago, IL): ground stops, ground delay programs and delays right now, what the FAA has listed for MDW recently, and how often flights here actually run late.
No: the FAA is not reporting a ground stop at MDW right now.
FAA NAS Status lists no ground stop, ground delay program, or delay event for Chicago Midway Intl. Checked Nov 7, 2026 · 0149Z (7:49 PM CST); this page refreshes about every two minutes.
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Why MDW gets delayed
Midway is Southwest's Chicago base, a compact airport boxed in by city blocks. The FAA ran 31 programs for MDW in the 12 months to October 2026, mostly ground stops for thunderstorms (65%), and those stops ran longer than at most airports, typically just under 2 hours. A November 29, 2025 snowstorm produced the longest stop of the year, 5 h 49 min.
Midway's lateness is mostly a schedule of quick turns unwinding over the day: late-arriving aircraft caused 48% of delay minutes in BTS data, and only 72.8% of departures were on time.
Written by the ATIS Alerts team from FAA Command Center advisories (October 2025 to October 2026), BTS airline on-time data (June 2025 to May 2026) and 20 years of hourly weather observations. Updated October 2026.
How long MDW delays usually last
Every FAA ground stop and ground delay program for MDW from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 5, 2026, rebuilt from the FAA Command Center's own advisories.
Ground delay programs
3Ground stops
27Flights to MDW were held by at least one FAA program on 25 days in the last year. 43% of the stops and programs began between 9 AM and 1 PM local time.
What triggered them
MDW ground stops and delay programs by month
| Month | Ground stops | Delay programs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| March 2026 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| April 2026 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| May 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| July 2026 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| August 2026 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| September 2026 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November 2026 to dateplus Nov 6-30, 2025 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
The busiest month was March, with 6 ground stops and delay programs combined.
Source: FAA ATCSCC advisory database (fly.faa.gov), every ground stop and ground delay program advisory the FAA Command Center issued for MDW, rebuilt daily by ATIS Alerts.
Best time of day to fly out of MDW
Airline departures scheduled before 9 AM left on time 90% of the time, against 47% for those scheduled after 9 PM. By weekday, Wednesday was the most reliable (79%) and Sunday the least (67%). BTS on-time data, June 2025 to May 2026; on time = within 15 minutes.
Recent FAA events at MDW
Ground stops and delay programs the FAA has listed for MDW in the last 90 days, from ATIS Alerts' own log of FAA NAS Status.
- Departure DelaysOct 15, 2026 · 1340Z (8:40 AM CDT)lasted 5 min · vol:compacted demand · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopSep 19, 2026 · 1053Z (5:53 AM CDT)lasted 2h 7m · thunderstorms
- Ground Delay ProgramSep 17, 2026 · 1410Z (9:10 AM CDT)lasted 2h 22m · other · avg delay 145 min
- Departure DelaysSep 15, 2026 · 1417Z (9:17 AM CDT)lasted 34 min · wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 23 min
Durations are the time the FAA kept the event listed. Log complete from 2026-09-22; older rows are the last event of each type seen by the ATIS Alerts bot since 2026-07-22.
How often is MDW delayed?
Airline on-time performance at MDW, Jun 2025 to May 2026, from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
74,255 scheduled airline arrivals and 74,246 departures in the period. Best month: Sep 2025 (85.7% on time); worst: Mar 2026 (70.2%). 22% of arrival delay minutes were charged to weather or the National Airspace System, the categories a ground stop or ground delay program falls under.
On-time arrivals by month
Bar = share of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule; largest month had 7,532 arrivals.
What caused the delays
- 48%Late-arriving aircraft
- 29%Airline (crew, maintenance, ground handling)
- 18%National Airspace System (ATC, volume, non-extreme weather)
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
Shares of delay minutes on arrivals 15+ minutes late, as reported by the carriers to the DOT.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline On-Time Performance (reporting carriers; regional, cargo, and general aviation flights are not included). Published about two months after each month ends.
Weather at KMDW right now
Weather drives most ground stops: thunderstorms, low ceilings, wind and snow.
METAR KMDW 070053Z 36007KT 10SM BKN036 07/02 A3019 RMK AO2 SLP232 T00720017
MDW ground stop FAQ
Is there a ground stop at MDW today?
No ground stop at MDW right now (as of 7:49 PM CST, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Chicago Midway International Airport. This page rechecks the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes.
How do I know if MDW has a ground stop right now?
The banner at the top of this page reads the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes. A red banner means the FAA currently lists a ground stop for Chicago Midway Intl; green means it does not. The official source is nasstatus.faa.gov.
How many ground stops has MDW had in the last year?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 27 ground stops and 3 ground delay programs for MDW, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 25 days. Source: the FAA Command Center's advisory database (fly.faa.gov).
How long do ground stops at MDW last?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 27 ground stops for MDW. The typical one lasted 2 h 6 min, and the middle half ran 1 h 9 min to 3 h 39 min. Ground delay programs run longer: 3 of them, typically 3 h 35 min with an average delay of 70 minutes.
Does a ground stop mean my flight is cancelled?
No. It means departures to MDW are held, not cancelled. Airlines cancel on their own when the backlog cannot be recovered, so watch your carrier's updates alongside this page.
⚠️ Informational only. FAA NAS Status is the authoritative source for delay programs; your airline or dispatch governs your flight. ATIS Alerts is not affiliated with the FAA.