HISTORY:

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above a wind-swept beach at Kitty Hawk, N. C. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet, less than the wingspan of today's 747 Jumbo Jet!

Commercial airplanes first started to appear in the 1920's due in large part to the end of World War I in 1918 when pilots became available. By this time, Chicago had already achieved a status of critical mass and had become the de facto, mid-continental transportation center because of its unique synergy and location between sea and land transport---the Great Lakes, rivers, canals, and railroads---and ultimately it added a focus on air transport, since its location between the east and west coasts made Chicago a very convenient "stopover destination" vs. an "ultimate destination".

The first flight of a heavier-than-air machine over the Chicago area occurred in 1909 when Glenn Curtiss gave a demonstration at the Hawthorne Race Track in Cicero.

Chicago hosted one of the first ever air shows at Grant Park during 1911.

The Chicago area's first "airport" (defined as a permanent facility) was established in 1911 in Cicero primarily to handle the activities of the Aero Club of Illinois, a group of wealthy aviation buffs and flying enthusiasts. Cicero Field, prior to World War I, was also one of the world's busiest airports, a feat duplicated later on by both Midway and O'Hare Airports.

The federal Air Mail service started in 1918 with military planes and pilots and is considered to be the beginning of commercial aviation in the United States. Its first airport was Grant Park in Chicago and was managed by Chicagoan Benjamin Lipsner. (In 1925, Congress transferred the carrying of mail from the government airline to private carriers: this decision led directly to the creation of the U.S. airline industry in 1926.)

Conservationists who wanted to protect the city's downtown lakefront from over development did not favor the Grant Park site. Grant Park's fate was sealed for good when the Wingfoot Air Express, the Goodyear Tire & Company's first commercial blimp crashed on June 29, 1919, following some public demonstration flights at Grant Park. It lifted off for its return flight to its home base, caught fire, and crashed through the skylight of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank at LaSalle Street and Jackson Boulevard. Thirteen people died including 10 bank employees.

The Post Office moved its Chicago airmail operations to Checkerboard Field, a small airport at 12^th Street (Roosevelt Road) and First Avenue in suburban Maywood in 1920. After a fire there a couple years later, the Post office moved again, to nearby Maywood Field, which became the base for most airlines when they came into existence in 1926.

Today's Midway Airport location is due largely to the efforts of Charles Dickenson, a wealthy seed company owner, and the Aero Club of Chicago. Together, they lobbied the City of Chicago for additional airports, and on October 1, 1922 Mayor William Hale Thompson officially opened a portion of a square mile of open land at Cicero Avenue and 63^rd Street for what would eventually become the world's busiest airport.

The new, but incomplete, all-weather municipal landing field was dedicated on May 8, 1926. The ceremony included a flight by one of the new airlines, National Air Transport that, as a result of a series of mergers a few years later, became United Air Lines. The airport was then called Municipal Airport and originally comprised 120 acres. Its longest runway was initially 3,600 feet. The City of Chicago officially recognizes the airport opening as of December 1, 1927.

The Chicago City Council originally leased the airport property from the Board of Education for $1,560/year.

In its first full year of operation, 1928, Municipal Airport was still primarily an airmail facility so only managed to have 15,498 passengers on its 41,660 flights, or approximately 2.68 passengers per flight.

In 1928, Municipal Airport had 12 hangars and four lighted runways for night flights.

In 1928, the official observation site for Chicago's weather records was moved to Midway (in 1958 it was moved to O'Hare Airport).

The first passenger terminal at Municipal Airport was in operation in 1932. The public was relatively slow in embracing flying in those early years due to the high cost of flying, small aircraft size, railroad competition and the Great Depression. In 1940, 700,000 people flew in and out of Municipal Airport, and this figure grew to over a million passengers in 1944.

Municipal Airport was called the "World's Busiest" in 1932 after it handled 100,000 passengers on 60,947 flights. Midway held onto this title until 1962 when it was claimed by O'Hare and O'Hare held onto this title until 1998 when it was claimed by Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport.

The 21-passenger, twin-engine DC-3 was the workhorse of the commercial fleet in those early days of the 1930's.

In 1936 the Chicago City Council voted to spend $8.5 million to more than double the size of the airport to allow for the 5,000-foot runways that would be needed to handle the next generation of planes with four-engines. In 1942, the Chicago City Council approved $1.2 million to build a new passenger terminal.

Also in 1942, the Douglas Aircraft Company was expanding a little known airport called Orchard Field in order to build four-engine C-54 transports for World War II. This airport eventually became known as the Orchard-Douglas Airport (ORD---the code name still used today) and then O'Hare International Airport.

Municipal was renamed Midway in 1949 in honor of the Battle of Midway, considered by many to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

Midway's success was to some degree its own undoing since it needed further expansion. This was impossible and/or too expensive as it became encircled by all kinds of businesses and eventually housing. At that same time, O'Hare was located "in the wilderness" so expansion was focused there due to the lower costs, minimal problems etc. Additionally, larger four-engine planes, Lockheed Super Constellations and subsequently jets required larger runways that Midway could not handle in the late 1940's/early 1950's.

Midway passenger traffic peaked at 431,400 flights and more than 10 million passengers in 1959 just as the big new jets were hitting the market. Midway just could not handle the longer runways needed for the jets as well as the larger terminals to handle the additional passenger load factor.

By 1963, Midway Airport resembled a "ghost town" since its flights were reduced to 126,959 carrying 417,544 passengers. The airlines had shifted their traffic to the new O'Hare Airport because of its larger size that could handle the larger jets and passenger numbers. About half the passengers landing at O'Hare were turning around and taking off "right away" since they were changing flights: O'Hare was not their destination airport.

Due to Mayor Daley's urging in the late 60's, the airlines increased the traffic at Midway, but it collapsed again after the 1973 world oil crisis that caused the price of jet fuel to escalate.

Airline deregulation in the early 1970's opened up the market and fueled Midway expansion once again. Midway also became the name of the very first airline that was born as a result of the Civil Aeronautics Board decision to deregulate the industry. This airline only stayed in existence for 12 years but is credited for increasing the Midway Airport business by over 800%.

Midway Airlines filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in 1991 (but resumed again in 1993 but relocated its headquarters to the Raleigh-Durham Airport). Southwest Airlines was a former intrastate airline that was able to successfully compete against its bigger rivals by operating a budget airline of flying inexpensive jets and charging substantially lower airfares than the major "trunk" airlines. In 1985 Southwest Airlines was invited by Chicago officials to replace Midway Airlines.

The City of Chicago helped Southwest and other budget carriers to make Midway Airport popular again by building a rapid transit line to the airport, modernizing and expanding its terminals, and adding large parking lots to accommodate the increase in passengers and the need to park cars. This was the birth of remote parking lots and free shuttle buses that transported passengers directly from their car to the terminal.

A new record for passenger traffic was set in 1998---11.4 million, surpassing the 10.0 million passengers of 1959. As the 21^st Century drew near, passenger traffic had reached 15.7 million, although O'Hare was at 72 million and officials were still talking about the urgency for a 3^rd airport to relieve congestion.

TRIVIA:

The original name of Midway Airport was Chicago Air Park and then Municipal Field or "Munie" for short.

The first two runways were constructed of cinder. One was 1,200 feet long and the other 1,500 feet. They were both 50 feet wide.

Flying mail was more profitable then flying passengers in the early days of the 1920's.

Six airlines operated from Municipal Airport in 1927, its first official year of operation. The airlines were the predecessors to what would become: Braniff, Eastern, Chicago and Southern, Northwest, TWA and United.

Charles Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis visited Chicago Municipal Airport on August 13, 1927.

The first airmail flight arrived from Omaha, NE on December 1, 1927. The pilot's name was Ira O. Biffle.

The first three hangers owned at the Chicago Municipal Airport in 1928 were: National Air Transport, Boeing Air Transport and the 108^th Air National Guard Observation Squadron. (National Air Transport and Boeing Air Transport eventually merged to become United Air Lines.)

The first type of air traffic control occurred in 1929. It was primarily in the form of a "flagman" who would move to the takeoff areas of the different runways depending upon the direction of the wind. Police were also needed in those early days for crowd control due to people's fascination with flying and the lack of security.

New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated in 1932 to be the Democratic choice for President, and American Airlines flew him to Chicago's Municipal Airport to make his acceptance speech in Chicago at the downtown site of his party's convention.

Pierce "Scotty" O'Carroll founded Monarch Air Service at Municipal in 1932 (it closed for business in 1997) that became the longest, continuously managed fixed-based aviation company in U.S. history.

George Marshall was an instructor at the 108^th Squadron, 33^rd Division Illinois Air National Guard at Municipal Airport during the years 1933-1936. Marshall later became President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Chief of Staff, President Truman's Secretary of State and the creator of  "The Marshall Plan" that helped rebuild and feed Europe after World War II.

The first radio control tower at Municipal that allowed two-way radio communication between the tower and pilot was used in 1933.

American Airlines' first DC-2 (Flagship Dallas) was put into service on December 1, 1934. It flew between Municipal Airport and Newark, New Jersey.

The northern part of Municipal was at one time the Chicago Meadows Golf Course. It was closed for business in 1934 and the clubhouse became the home of the airport manager, John A. Casey.

In 1935, 25% of all U.S. mail was handled through Chicago. By 1941, 25% of all passengers were flying through Chicago.

In 1936, 113 scheduled flights were leaving Municipal every day.

There were no fences in the early days of Municipal and at least one pilot would taxi the plane to his family's house and park it in the backyard!

Much of early plane construction was made out of fabric and the windshields were not very strong, secure or airtight. Some pilots were killed during migrating season when the birds would fly directly into the cockpit windshield.

In the late 1930's, a poll of Chicago's residents ranked Municipal Airport the fourth wonder of Chicago (the top three were the Art Institute, Buckingham Fountain and the Chicago Stock Yards).

Railroad tracks ran through the heart of Municipal Airport until the early 1940's when the Federal Government declared that the airport was needed for military purposes once it appeared that World War II was close at hand.

The U.S. Military assumed supervision of air traffic control of Midway on December 7, 1941.

The B-17 "Flying Fortress" was able to land on the 6,519 feet long Midway Runway.

James H. Doolittle, of air racing, instrument flying technique and WWII fame, flew into Midway many times. So did Eleanor Roosevelt.

Valerie Foley, an immigrant from Ireland, was the first woman hired, in a non-stewardess position, to work at the Municipal Terminal. This event took place during WWII and approximately 50 years later, Erin O'Donnell, also of Irish descent was hired as the first woman to serve as Midway's airport manager.

Marshall Fields' Cloud Room restaurant opened on March 18, 1948 and quickly became a favorite for many airport travelers and visitors. Many nearby residents made it their regular Sunday brunch after Church. The Chicken Pot Pie was the favorite menu item for many years.

Midway was nicknamed the "Crossroads of the World" from the late 1940's through the 1950's.

Mike Rotunno was a photographer at the airport from the 1920's to the 1980's

The Blue & Golf Cafe in Midway was a favorite of Frank Sinatra during the stopovers as he flew from one coast to the other.

Helicopter service started at Midway in 1956.

On July 12, 1957 the Midway terminal was flooded with 6" of water, parts of runways were under 2' of water, the parking lot was under 4' of water, all phones & electricity were cut off, planes were diverted to O'Hare Field, and thousands of passengers were stranded---all because of a 24-hour storm that dropped 6.24" of rain on the area within 24 hours.

A scene from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest starring Cary Grant was filmed at Midway in 1959.

United Airlines was headquartered at Municipal for over 30 years. It was the first airline to serve Municipal and the last one to leave Midway in 1962 for O'Hare with the birth of the "Jet Age."

The City of Chicago purchased Midway Airport from the Board of Education for $16 million on February 28, 1982.

ATA (American Trans Air) opened a hub at Midway in 1992.

The first covered parking lot was opened at Midway in 1999. It could accommodate up to 3,000 cars.

A new Battle of Midway Memorial was dedicated on June 4, 2001.

Southwest Airlines is now the largest airline serving Midway Airport with control over 25 of the 43 gates and approximately 200 departures daily. ATA Airlines now considers Midway its main operations base with both domestic flights and international flights to Mexico.

Midway is part of the Chicago Airport System and its official Website is www.flychicago.com.

Midway is on the Chicago Transit Authority's Orange Line and offers travelers quick access to and from the downtown area.

Midway Airport is the fastest growing airport in North America and is still considered the busiest square mile in aviation. In 1999 it served more than 13.5 million passengers with 297,613 airport operations making it the 47^th busiest airport in the world.

By 2004, a new terminal more than tripled its previous capacity to over 920,000 square feet with 43 gates.

Midway's codename is MDW. It now covers 650 acres and has five runways. Due to its close proximity to buildings and houses, the FAA and the airlines are very sensitive to safety and therefore limit loads and adhere strictly to adjusted weather minimums.

There have been two "incidents" at Midway, exactly 33 years apart. On December 12, 1972, United Airlines flight 533 crashed into a residential area during landing, killing 43 of the 61 passengers on board and two non-passengers on the ground. On December 8, 2005, Southwest Airlines flight 1248 slid off the runway during bad weather, through the barrier fence, and killed a 6-year old boy who was a passenger in a car. In both cases, the plane involved was a Boeing 737.