Securing the Skies - Midway Airport

Midway Airport, along with O'Hare Airport, is part of the Chciago Department of Aviation. The same security chief runs both airports. That position changed hands in early 2010, as Richard Edgeworth took on the job. The previous chief has alleged he was fired for pointing out potential security concerns.

And if you're at Midway, there's a good chance you are flying Southwest Airlines. Southwest will increase its daily departures from Midway Airport to 224 on May 9, making it the the busiest Southwest hub (over Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport).

General information about the airport also is available at the World Airport Guide site and the Chicago Department of Aviation site.

In recent news about Midway,

• The Bureau of Transportation announced April 8 that the airport rose to 20th in the nation (out of 29 major airports) with 70 percent of flights departing on time. That stood in stark contrast to January, when Midway was the worst in the nation in that category.
• The Chicago Department of Aviation reported earlier this year that Midway experienced an 18.6 percent growth in passengers for November 2009 compared to November 2008. A total of 685,894 boarded an aircraft at Midway in November 2009.

Maps of Midway International Airport, including concourses and concessions, are available at the Fly Chicago site.

• Southwest Airlines has the biggest presence of all the airlines at Midway, with 29 of the 43 available gates.
• The first airport on the land now named Midway was built in 1923.
• Midway Airlines served as the flagship carrier from 1979-1991.
• Covered parking first arrived at the airport in 1999, in the form of a 3,000-space parking garage.
• In 2005, Midway Airport was the 30th-busiest airport in the United States in terms of passenger traffic.
• The last incident/accident at the airport took place Dec. 6, 2005. A Southwest Airlines jef skidded off a runway into an intersection, killing a 6-year-old boy.