Chicago Midway Airport Information
By 1967, reconstruction had begun at the airport, adding three new concourses with 28 gates and three ticket counters, and in 1968 the city invested $10 million in renovation funds, The funds partly supported construction of the Stevenson Expressway, which proved to be a major route for passengers to the airport, and Midway saw the return of major airlines during that year, serving 1,663,074 passengers on more than 274,062 flights, aided in part by the introduction of jets, such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Boeing 727, and Boeing 737, that were capable of using Midway's shorter runways, which the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 could not.
In 1979, Midway Airlines began operations, the first to do so after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, and went on to become the flagship carrier at Midway before ending its operations in 1991. Midway Airlines helped revitalize the airport and led the way for other discount carriers, who benefitted from Midway's lower costs and close proximity to Chicago's Loop, to prosper. Southwest Airlines, which began operations at Midway in 1985, was one such beneficiary. Three years earlier, in 1982, the City of Chicago purchased Midway Airport from the Chicago Board of Education for $16 million.
The Chicago Transit Authority displaced the Carlton Midway Inn to open a new CTA terminal at the airport on October 31, 1993 for the newly established Chicago "L" Orange Line, which connected Midway to Chicago's Loop. The CTA's Orange Line connects Midway to downtown Chicago via elevated train transportation.Midway Airport is the terminus of the line, which traverses the southwest portion of the city before ending up in the loop and cycling back to Midway again. The Orange Line does not run 24 hours a day (unlike the Blue Line, which provides 24-hour service to O'hare), but does operate extensive hours from about 4:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M., running at an average of 8-minute intervals.
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Chicago's Midway International Airport (MDW) is located about 10 miles from downtown Chicago. Every year, more than 18 million travelers pass through Midway, which is served by 12 airlines, including American, Continental, Delta, and Southwest. There are five runways, and the airport uses three concourses, each of which features a number of shops and restaurants. Midway has become known as the nation's premier low-fare airport.
Originally built in 1923 and named Chicago Air Park, Midway was renamed in 1949 after World War II's Battle of Midway. In 1929, Midway was named the busiest airport in the world (a title since overtaken by its sister airport, O'Hare). Over the past few years, Midway has undergone substantial redevelopment and renovations, including a new 941,000-square-foot terminal building, a new seven-level parking garage, and 14 additional gates.
Today's Midway airport is clean, bright, non-smoking, and easily navigated. Midway features a number of ATMs located throughout passenger areas, an interfaith chapel, and wi-fi service. The USO is stationed in Concourse C and offers a number of services to military personnel and their families. The work of local and national artists is on display throughout the airport's passenger areas, as well.
There are no hotels located at Midway Airport. Instead, travelers make use of nearby hotels and located motels located in surrounding suburbs.
Midway features a number of parking options, including daily, hourly, and economy parking as well as passenger pick-up and drop-off areas, and a cell-phone lot where drivers can await their passengers without being told by police and TSA agents to move on. There are several information services available for updates on the parking situation at Midway, including www.flychicago.com, which provides real-time parking information, and ParkNet, a radio station available at 800 AM that broadcasts from the airport.
Cell Phone Lot Located at 61st Street and Cicero Avenue, this is a free lot where motorists can await calls from their loved ones who need to be picked up. It takes about five minutes to drive from the cell phone lot to the pick-up area at the main terminal building.
Daily ParkingThe Midway Airport Parking Garage on Cicero Avenue allows daily parking on levels 4, 5, and 6. There is a new pedestrian bridge and roadway that makes getting to and from this parking area convenient. It's a short walk from the parking garage to the arrival and departure areas at the terminal building.
Hourly ParkingLevel 1 of the Midway Parking Garage is reserved for hourly parking. The new parking garage features 6,300 new spaces, so parking is usually not a problem at Midway. Parking is an easy walk to the departures and arrivals areas of the main terminal building.
Economy ParkingEconomy lots and an economy garage are located on 55th Street. Free shuttle bus service between the terminal and the economy and remote parking areas is available 24 hours a day, departing every 15 minutes. These shuttles are wheelchair-accessible, too.
Chicago Midway International Airport (IATA: MDW, ICAO: KMDW, FAA LID: MDW), also known simply as Midway Airport or Midway, is an airport in Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's southwest side, eight miles (13 km) from Chicago's Loop. The airport's current IATA code MDW has been in use since it was implemented in 1949 when Chicago Municipal Airport was renamed Chicago Midway Airport.[3] Clockwise from the north it is bordered by 55th Street, Cicero Avenue (terminal entrance), 63rd Street, and Central Avenue. The airport's northern half is within the Garfield Ridge community area, and the southern half is within the Clearing community area. The airport is managed by the Chicago Midway Airport System, which also oversees operations at O'Hare International Airport and Gary/Chicago International Airport.[4] Midway is heavily used by low-cost carriers, such as AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines, and to a lesser extent by legacy carriers, such as Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines. Both the Stevenson Expressway and Chicago Transit Authority's "L" Train Orange Line provide passengers access to downtown Chicago.
Chicago Midway Airport is the second largest passenger airport in the Chicago metropolitan area, and is the second busiest in the state of Illinois after Chicago O'Hare International Airport.[5] In 2007, 19,378,885 passengers traveled through Chicago Midway, second behind O'Hare International Airport, and ahead of Gary/Chicago International Airport and Chicago Rockford International Airport.[6] In 2005, Chicago Midway International Airport was the 30th busiest airport in the United States in terms of passenger traffic.[7] In its 80-year history of passenger traffic, Midway Airport has had 21 incidents and accidents, and only one accident since 1976. Chicago Midway International Airport ranked third amongst large airports in the nation for "Best On-Time Arrival Rates" in June 2007, with 75.4% of all flights (8,087) arriving on time, a 3.8% increase from the previous year.[8]. Chicago Midway International Airport ranked highest in customer satisfaction among medium-sized airports (10 million to 30 million passengers per year) in J.D. Power and Associates' 2008 study.[9]
Today, Midway Airport serves as a focus city for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines[10] and Orlando-based AirTran Airways. For over 16 years, Chicago Midway International Airport had been the main hub for Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines (ATA), but that service was reduced to four destinations in November 2007, and was scheduled to end by June 7, 2008[11][12] before the airline filed for bankruptcy in April 2008, immediately discontinuing all flights.[13][14]
Southwest is the dominant carrier at Midway, controlling 29 of the airport's 43 gates. Currently, the airline offers 227 daily departures to 47 destinations.[15] AirTran is the second largest carrier, occupying 5 out of the 43 gates at Midway, and offering over 20 daily nonstop flights to 6 destinations; 4 of which are served year-round.[16]
Currently the city is seeking approval from the current airline carriers to auction a lease for the operation rights of the airport to a private company. Such a lease is estimated to be valued at $3 billion dollars for the city. Approval by five of the seven carriers is required.
Early history
Originally named Chicago Air Park,[19] Midway Airport was built on a 320-acre (1 km²) plot in 1923 and consisted of a single cinder runway that primarily served airmail services. The site was selected following the destruction of the Wingfoot Air Express when it crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building, killing thirteen people, and the city decided to close the Grant Park air strip. In 1926, the Chicago City Council leased the land for commercial purposes from the Chicago Board of Education at a rate of $1560 per year.[19] On December 12, 1927, Midway was dedicated as Chicago Municipal Airport by Chicago Mayor William H. Thompson,[3] and became known as "Munie" to many early pilots.
The unique one-square-mile footprint of Midway Airport is due to its connection to the Chicago Board of Education. When the state of Illinois was created, land was divided into townships. Each township included a one-square-mile (640 acre) section devoted to education. In most instances, one-room school houses were located on this land, the balance of which was farmed to provide funds for the operation of the school. As township school districts consolidated, much of this excess land was typically sold for other purposes. The Chicago Board of Education continued to own the Midway Airport section and rent it to the City of Chicago for airport operations until 1982, when an education funding crisis forced the Board of Education to sell the land to the City of Chicago for $16 million.
During its first full year of operation in 1928, the airfield was home to twelve hangars and four runways, lit for night operations.[20] Air traffic control was handled by flagmen,[20] who would be positioned at the end of the runways; they were responsible for controlling 14,498 flight operations carrying 41,660 passengers that year.[3] The official observation site for Chicago's weather records was also moved to Midway during that year from the downtown area and would remain there until it was moved again, this time to O'Hare, in 1958.
The greater Chicago area, featuring Chicago Midway and O'Hare International Airports
A new passenger terminal and administration building, funded by a bond issue, was dedicated in 1931[20] by Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, and in the following year Midway Airport earned the title of "World's Busiest" with over 100,846 passengers riding on 60,947 flights.[3] Midway held that title for three decades until O'Hare claimed it in 1961.[20]
In 1941, Midway Airport joined World War II efforts because of its long runways and mid-continent position.[3] The war years proved to be a boom for Midway, which saw new construction funded in part by $1 million in federal monies from the Works Progress Administration, and work on additional runways moved forward in 1941 when a court ordered the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad to reroute tracks in the vicinity of the airfield. Midway handled a full 25% of the nation's 417,000 passengers during that year.
The airport was officially renamed on July 8, 1949[3] by a unanimous vote in the City Council to "Chicago Midway Airport" in honor of the World War II Battle of Midway[3] – not after Midway Airlines, as many have believed, nor because the airport is located at the west end of 59th Street (the eastern end of which is part of Chicago's historic Midway Plaisance). Midway saw 3.2 million passengers carried on 223,000 flights during 1949. The number of passengers rose to 3.5 million the next year and reached a height of 10 million in 1959. This video of Chicago Midway Airport in 1954 shows the increase in traffic that Midway Airport experienced throughout the 1950s.[21] However, by 1959, the airport had proved unable to handle larger aircraft and higher passenger loads. By 1961, the airport faced a 60% drop in passenger traffic, largely due to the opening of O'Hare in 1955.[3] In 1962, United Airlines, the first major carrier to serve Midway, ceased operations at the airport, the last remaining carrier to do so during this period of decline.[
Post-O'Hare history
By 1967, reconstruction had begun at the airport, adding three new concourses with 28 gates and three ticket counters,[3] and in 1968 the city invested $10 million in renovation funds,[20] The funds partly supported construction of the Stevenson Expressway, which proved to be a major route for passengers to the airport, and Midway saw the return of major airlines during that year, serving 1,663,074 passengers on more than 274,062 flights,[3] aided in part by the introduction of jets, such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Boeing 727, and Boeing 737, that were capable of using Midway's shorter runways, which the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 could not.
In 1979, Midway Airlines began operations,[3] the first to do so after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, and went on to become the flagship carrier at Midway before ending its operations in 1991.[20] Midway Airlines helped revitalize the airport and led the way for other discount carriers, who benefitted from Midway's lower costs and close proximity to Chicago's Loop, to prosper.[20] Southwest Airlines, which began operations at Midway in 1985,[22] was one such beneficiary. Three years earlier, in 1982, the City of Chicago purchased Midway Airport from the Chicago Board of Education for $16 million.[20]
The Chicago Transit Authority displaced the Carlton Midway Inn to open a new CTA terminal at the airport on October 31, 1993 for the newly established Chicago "L" Orange Line, which connected Midway to Chicago's Loop.[3] The CTA's Orange Line connects Midway to downtown Chicago via elevated train transportation.[3] Midway Airport is the terminus of the line, which traverses the southwest portion of the city before ending up in the loop and cycling back to Midway again. The Orange Line does not run 24 hours a day (unlike the Blue Line, which provides 24-hour service to O'hare), but does operate extensive hours from about 4:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M., running at an average of 8-minute intervals.
Recent history
In 1996, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced the historic Midway Airport Terminal Development Program, which was launched the next year. At the time, it was the largest public works project in the state.[23] The Midway Airport parking garage opened in 1999, bringing covered parking to the airport for the first time. The garage, offering 3,000 hourly and daily parking spaces, is connected to the Midway terminal building for convenient access to ticket counters and baggage claim areas.[3]
Midway Airport's new passenger terminal. In the background are ticket counters for Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.Continuing with the expansion project, a pedestrian bridge over Cicero Avenue was constructed in 2000. The bridge connects the new terminal to the new concourses.[20] In 2001, the new 900,000-square-foot (84,000 m²) Midway Airport terminal building opened, offering expanded ticket counters, spacious baggage claim areas, traveler information and a short walking distance to airline gates.[3] A 50,000-square-foot (4,500 m²) food court opened with Chicago-style food and retail options, and in 2002, Midway welcomed the return of direct international service after a 40-year absence with the opening of the new Federal Inspection Service facility in Concourse A.[24]
In June 2004, Mayor Daley and airline officials celebrated the completion of the Terminal Development Program.[20] The expansion project resulted in the addition of 14 gates (from 29 to 43), with the airport now providing 43 gates on 3 concourses.[20] A new 6,300-space economy parking garage, including a new bridge and roadway used exclusively for buses shuttling passengers to and from the terminal, opened in December 2005.[20]
Simultaneous to Midway's expansion, ATA Airlines began rapid expansion at Chicago Midway in the early 2000s, and prior to 2004, ATA offered significant scheduled service to destinations from Midway Airport and was the airport's dominant carrier, occupying and operating 14 of the 17 gates in Concourse A.[25] However, after the airline declared bankruptcy in October 2004, scheduled service from Midway significantly decreased.
ATA Airlines opened their Chicago-Midway hub in 1992, and was the largest carrier at Midway as recent as 2004. ATA ceased all operations in April 2008.Due to repeated cancellations to its schedule, ATA then offered non-stop flights to 4 destinations, and mainly operated out of only 2 gates in Concourse B. On May 11, 2007, the airline added new service from Chicago to Oakland and Ontario, California.[26] These new additions marked the first time ATA increased service at Chicago Midway in almost three years. However, just five months later, ATA announced they would end service to Ontario on January 7, 2008.[27] On April 3, 2008, ATA Airlines discontinued all operations. The airline had operated at Chicago-Midway since 1992. [28]
Also in March 2008, AirTran Airways announced that flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul and Charlotte would be discontinued. An AirTran spokesperson said they discontinued these routes due to lack of customer demand. This leaves AirTran flying nonstop to 7 destinations.
In May 2008, Porter Airlines announced that it plans to began flights to Toronto in November, pending government approval.
Privatization
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has sought the approval of the airlines that operate at Midway to pursue privatization of the airport. Approval of five of the seven airlines must be received before the airport can be put out for bids. Southwest and Delta have given tentative approval and AirTran, ATA, Frontier, and Northwest say a deal is near. The deal is being held up by requested assurances that costs will not escalate and operations and maintenance will not decline. Despite the frequency of international privatization of airports, Midway would be the first domestic airport to privatize. The deal would supposedly raise $3 billion for underfunded pensions and long-term infrastructure.[18] Supposedly the terms of the deal would involve a 50 year lease that is similar in structure to that of the Chicago Skyway. Mayor Daley is receiving encouragement from Wall Street financiers.[17] At least six groups have formed to bid on the long-term lease in advance of the March 31, 2008 deadline for qualification statements. The two original Southwest Airlines maintenance hangars at Midway Airport.
Before the rise of O'Hare in the late 1950s, Midway was the world's busiest airport and one of the key hubs in the U.S. airline system.[20] United Airlines was headquartered at Midway in the pre-O'Hare days, and American Airlines was originally based at Midway until it moved its headquarters to New York City in the mid-1930s. There was also a very large presence from TWA and Eastern Air Lines, as well as several others. The airport was extensively renovated in 1958 and, again, in 1967, after which several of the legacy carriers resumed service after a period of some years.[20] Midway was also a hub for the startup Midway Airlines in the 1980s, and a focus city for former Vanguard Airlines from 1997–2000.[30]
Both American Airlines[31] and United Airlines[32] ended all scheduled service to Midway in September 2006, in favor of concentrating Chicago-area operations at the larger nearby O'Hare International Airport. However, despite its small size compared to O'Hare, Midway is still a vital transportation terminal. Its key advantage is that it is closer to the Loop than O'Hare. The average train ride on the Orange Line from the Loop to Chicago Midway International Airport is about 20–25 minutes.
Big Sky Airlines, which commenced non-stop service on December 3, 2006 between Springfield, Illinois and Midway, later expanded the service to include daily nonstop flight to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, beginning on March 17. However, citing poor demand, both the Springfield as well as the Eau Claire flights were discontinued on June 9, 2007.[33]
Mesa Airlines, which began non-stop service from MDW in early 2007, discontinued all flights to Decatur and Quincy, Illinois, effective November 9, 2007. The flights, which were operated by Air Midwest, were terminated citing poor passenger demand.[34]
Chicago Midway International Airport was once the largest hub of ATA Airlines. ATA had operated a hub at Midway since 1992. As recent as 2004, ATA operated over 100 daily flights to over 30 destinations. The airline had cut back service from Chicago ever since declaring bankruptcy in late 2004. In April 2008, the airline declared bankruptcy again, this time discontinuing all operations. On April 3, 2008, ATA Airlines ended all operations, including service to the four cities the airline still served at Chicago-Midway.
The original fully developed 1940s layout included 8 runways that crisscrossed the 8-by-8-block (one square mile) property. All terminals and hangars were on the square periphery. By the late 1970s the shorter north–south and east–west runway pairs had been closed. Four of the original runways remain, all significantly strengthened and enhanced, but essentially the same lengths as always. A short runway for light aircraft was added in 1989.
Chicago Midway International Airport covers 320 acres (129 ha) and currently has five runways:[35]
Because Midway is surrounded by buildings and other development, the landing thresholds of the runways are displaced to provide a proper obstacle clearance. Both the FAA and the airlines assure safety by limiting loads and adhering to adjusted weather minimums. Also because of displaced thresholds the runways are actually a lot shorter in terms of take-offs and landings. 13C/31C, the longest runway, only has a maximum take-off and landing distance of 6,059 feet (1,847 m), and on the opposite end of the runway the maximum take-off and landing distance is 5,826 feet (1,776 m). All the other runways have a maximum take-off and landing distance below 5,930 feet (1,810 m).
The carriers transporting the most passengers from Chicago Midway Airport are Southwest and AirTran. These airlines, along with the 4 (3 come June) other airlines that serve Chicago Midway make up the passenger traffic. In 2007, these airlines carried a total of 19,378,855 passengers through MDW, a 2.7% increase over the previous year. Also in 2007, 304,657 aircraft passed through Midway Airport, a 2.1% increase over 2006.
Midway Airport is served by the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" trains. Passengers can board Orange Line trains at a station in the airport terminal, which runs to downtown Chicago and the Loop (transit time about 25 minutes). This same station doubles as a stop for many CTA-run buses that serve the surrounding areas. Midway is one of the few airports in the United States that have rapid transit train to terminal service.
