Great-circle route RDU ↔ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| RDU → MDW Raleigh-durham to Chicago |
21/wk | Daily | Southwest Airlines |
| MDW → RDU Chicago to Raleigh-durham |
19/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 229,724 passengers on 1,976 flights between RDU and MDW — about 630 a day — filling 71% of the 324,200 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 RDU–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 Raleigh Durham International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport is 631 miles, or 1,015 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 631 mi |
| Kilometres | 1,015 km |
| Nautical miles | 548 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 40 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 1h 52m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 631-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 21 a week from Raleigh-durham to Chicago and 19 a week from Chicago to Raleigh-durham, from our most recent schedule sample.
Southwest Airlines.
In 2025, airlines reported 229,724 passengers on 1,976 scheduled flights between RDU and MDW — about 630 a day — filling 71% 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.
