Airport Information
Midway
Known formally as Chicago Midway International Airport, the airport was named after the famous WWII Battle of Midway. Southwest Airlines is the dominant carrier for Midway and controls 31 of the 43 gates at the airport. Today, Midway is also a reservation center, home to pilot and flight crew and a maintenance center for Southwest.
Chicago Midway boast the third best airport with on time arrivals. Also, it ranks as the top, mid-sized airport in customer satisfaction.
History of Midway indicates that in 1932, over 100,000 passengers were routed through the airport making it the busiest airport in the world at the time. It kept that illustrious title until 1962 when O'Hare International Airport surpassed Midway in the passenger count. When jets became the preferred air travel vehicle, Midway with its short runways was almost abandoned. In 1979 Midway Airlines brought business back to MDW.
Midway recently completed a major redevelopment plan, and during that time it also experienced record growth. MDW has added state of the art Power Stations to all terminals. The stations have AC outlets to recharge electronic devices at no charge to airport patrons. Located throughout the airport, the stations are conveniently located.
Along with this redevelopment, MDW and ORD keep Chicago as the Transportation Center of America. On most days, 15% of all passenger traffic moves through O'Hare and Midway.
Recently, Midway has started a composting program for food waste from the airport's 13 restaurants.
Concourse A
- Air Tran
- Branson Air Express
- Delta Airlines
- Frontier Airlines
- Porter Airlines
- Northwest Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- Volaris Airlines
Concourse B
City Information
Chicago, Illinois located on Lake Michigan is a city known for its architecture, championship teams, music, food and history. Commonly known as the Windy City, Chicago has a vast amount of attractions, multicultural activities, music, sporting events and world famous museums to keep anyone busy for weeks.
Over 2.8 million people call Chicago home making it the third largest US City. Over 32.8 million US citizens and 1.15 million foreign guests travel to Chicago each year to experience what the city has to offer. Even Mark Twain marveled over the the vast amount of offerings Chicago laid out for its tourists. "It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago. She outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them." - Mark Twain, 1883.
Chicago is known as the birthplace of the modern building. Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Helmut Jahn, Frank Gehry, Daniel Burnham all lent their talents to the Chicago skyline. Take an architectural boat tour to get the full effect of the buildings and the timeline for the history of Chicago's building boom. The nation's first skyscraper was erected in 1884. The Home Insurance Building, a ten story, steel-framed building stood at LaSalle and Adams Street.
One could spend a week going to the museums in Chicago and never see them all. From the Art Institute which has several masterpieces in its collection to the Museum of Science and Industry there's something to peak anyone's interest. Tours of all transportation modes (boat, plane, train, automobile, and walking) abound throughout Chicago and is always well-spent time.
No tour would be complete without visiting Wrigley Field. Named after William Wrigley, Jr. of chewing gum fame, it is the oldest National League field. Other than Fenway Park, Wrigley Field is the only ball park that still have the hand-turned scoreboard.
Known for great pizza, hot dogs, and other culinary delights. Tastes for every budget, appetite, and cultural diversity are available in Chicago. The Chicago hot dog, deep-dish pizza and Italian beef all originated in Chicago. But lesser known facts also indicated that the brownie was invented in the Windy City as well.
The Magnificent Mile is a shopping mecca in the Midwest. It runs along Michigan Avenue from the Chicago river to Oak Street. Designer boutiques, world famous department stores, specialty shops and hundreds of locally owned and independent stores offer goods from both the local area and around the world.
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