Chicago Midway International Airport Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Chicago Midway International Airport

Aerial view of Chicago Midway International Airport, a.k.a. the "world's busiest square mile".

IATA: MDW
ICAO: KMDW
FAA LID: MDW

Summary

Airport type

Public

Owner

City of Chicago

Operator

Chicago Airport System

Serves

Chicago, Illinois, US

Elevation AMSL

620 ft / 189 m

Website

www.flychicago.com

Maps

FAA airport diagram

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Runway

Runway	Length		Surface
Runway	ft	m	Surface
4L/22R	5,507	1,679	Asphalt
4R/22L	6,446	1,965	Asphalt/Concrete
13C/31C	6,522	1,988	Concrete
13L/31R	5,141	1,567	Asphalt
13R/31L	3,859	1,176	Concrete

Statistics (2008, 2010)

Aircraft operations (2008)	253,901
Passenger volume (2010)	17,566,281
Cargo tonnage (2008)	14,254
Enplanemants (2010)	8,856,025

Source: FAA and airport website

Chicago Midway International Airport (airport code KMDW) is a busy airport that serves the city of Chicago, Illinois. It was once the biggest airport in Chicago. This was before O'Hare International Airport was built. You can find it on the South Side of Chicago.

History of Midway Airport
- Important Events at Midway
Airlines at Midway
Images for kids
See also

History of Midway Airport

Midway Airport started as Chicago Air Park in 1923. It was built on a plot of land about 1.3 square kilometers in size. At first, it had one runway made of cinder. It was mainly used for airmail services, which delivered mail by plane.

In 1926, the city of Chicago rented the airport for commercial flights. On December 12, 1927, it was officially named Chicago Municipal Airport. By 1928, the airport had 12 hangars and four runways. These runways were lit up for planes to land at night.

A new building for passengers opened in 1931. In 1932, the airport said it was the "World's Busiest". It handled over 100,000 passengers and more than 60,000 flights that year. By 1939, many airlines like United, American, and TWA flew from Midway. Midway was the busiest airline airport in the United States from 1948 until 1960.

The airport grew bigger between 1938 and 1941. This expansion was partly paid for by money from the Works Progress Administration. This was a program that created jobs during the Great Depression. The airport expanded to fill a full square mile.

Important Events at Midway

The Southwest airplane that crashed in December 2005.

Midway Airport has been part of some important aviation events. These events helped make air travel safer.

On June 30, 1956, United Airlines Flight 718, a Douglas DC-7 plane, was flying towards Midway Airport. It collided with a TWA Super Constellation over the Grand Canyon. All 128 people on both planes were lost. This sad event led to the creation of the modern air traffic control system we use today.

Later, on December 8, 1972, United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737 plane, crashed. It happened in a neighborhood near Midway while the plane was trying to land. 43 of the 61 people on board were lost, along with two people on the ground.

Exactly 33 years later, on December 8, 2005, another incident happened. Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 was arriving from Baltimore/Washington International Airport. It slid off the runway during a heavy snowstorm. The plane went through the airport's fence. It stopped at a street corner next to the airport. Sadly, a 6-year-old boy who was a passenger in a car hit by the plane also passed away.