Great-circle route AUS ↔ MDW. Faint dots are other airports, for geographic context. Download this map — free to reuse with a link back to this page.
Frequencies below are per direction, from our most recent schedule sample. The two directions are not identical — that is normal on scheduled routes.
| Direction | Frequency | Days | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS → MDW Austin to Chicago |
29/wk | Daily | Southwest Airlines |
| MDW → AUS Chicago to Austin |
28/wk | Daily | Southwest Airlines |
Where a direction shows “—” we track it as an operating nonstop but hold no schedule sample for it — we would rather show nothing than guess.
In 2025, airlines reported 334,896 passengers on 2,704 flights between AUS and MDW — about 918 a day — filling 73% of the 458,448 seats flown. Southwest Airlines Co. carried the most passengers (100%).
Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports — actual airline-reported traffic, scheduled service only, both directions combined. Cargo and charter flights excluded.
Southwest Airlines is the only airline flying the AUS–MDW nonstop.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 737, Boeing 737-800.
Aircraft assignments change by season and by time of day.
The distance between Austin Bergstrom International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport is 973 miles, or 1,566 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 973 mi |
| Kilometres | 1,566 km |
| Nautical miles | 846 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. Southwest Airlines flies the route nonstop, with about 57 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 2h 31m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 973-mile distance, not a scheduled block time — an airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
About 29 a week from Austin to Chicago and 28 a week from Chicago to Austin, from our most recent schedule sample.
Southwest Airlines.
In 2025, airlines reported 334,896 passengers on 2,704 scheduled flights between AUS and MDW — about 918 a day — filling 73% of the seats flown. Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports, both directions combined.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Boeing 737, Boeing 737-800. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
