Great-circle route DCA ↔ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCA → MDW Washington to Chicago |
41/wk | Daily | Southwest Airlines |
| MDW → DCA Chicago to Washington |
38/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 432,018 passengers on 4,094 flights between DCA and MDW — about 1,184 a day — filling 67% of the 648,066 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 DCA–MDW nonstop.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737.
Aircraft assignments change by season and by time of day.
The distance between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport is 599 miles, or 964 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 599 mi |
| Kilometres | 964 km |
| Nautical miles | 521 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 79 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 1h 48m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 599-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 41 a week from Washington to Chicago and 38 a week from Chicago to Washington, from our most recent schedule sample.
Southwest Airlines.
In 2025, airlines reported 432,018 passengers on 4,094 scheduled flights between DCA and MDW — about 1,184 a day — filling 67% of the seats flown. Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports, both directions combined.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
