CHICAGO MIDWAY AIRPORT




An American Airlines propliner parked at Midway Airport in the 1950s.
From Chicago's Midway Airport by Christopher Lynch

MDW - the terminal building that wouldn't die.

Chicago Midway Airport was the nation's busiest airport after World War II. Served by twelve airlines - United, American, TWA, Capital, Eastern, Continental, Chicago & Southern, Ozark, Lake Central, North Central, Northwest Orient, and Braniff - it was the nation's foremost transcontinental and regional connecting point. In fact, Chicago was served by every major trunk carrier except National and Western.

To keep pace with this demand - and in anticipation of newer, larger four-engine propliners being developed - Chicago constructed a new terminal at MDW during 1947. It was located on the eastern edge of the airport (closest to the city), in the 'triangle' formed by Cicero Avenue and two of Midway's intersecting runways. When the first phase opened in 1947, it was acclaimed as the nation's most modern air terminal.

A long, lowm horseshoe-shaped design was chosen for the building, placing arrivals, departures and airline operations all on a single level. Each airline was given a 'slice' of the terminal building, housing ticket counters, baggage claim, a departure lounge and operations offices. United occupied the southernmost 'slice', closest to Cicero Avenue; American had the northernmost slice, and the other carriers were arranged in between.


Looking east at the MDW terminal in the late 1940s, showing the original design.
The grass field beyond Cicero Avenue is the site of the present-day terminal.
Source: Christopher Lynch book

Punctuating the long terminal design were three rotundas, which broke up the facade and reduced the terminal's perceived length. Famed Chicago retailed Marshall Field opened two restaurants in the center rotunda - the Blue and Gold Cafe on the ground level, a round-the-clock diner serving passengers on the go, and the sumptuous Cloud Room on the mezzanine level, which offered haute cuisine in an elegant settting.

Throughout the 1950s traffic at Midway exploded. The airfield jumped to the world's busiest, with a landing or takeoff occuring every thirty seconds. Chicago found its brand-new terminal bursting at the seams with passengers. Terminal expansion was constrained by the 'triangle' site on which the complex was situated. As a temporary measure, long enclosed passenger piers were added to the terminal in 1954. The piers were little more than wooden gangways extending across the apron, but they added much-needed aircraft parking positions.


Looking across the ticket lobby of United's 'slice' of the MDW terminal in 1956, one gets an idea of how overcrowded the facility became in a short time.
Source: Christopher Lynch book


Two views of the Midway terminal in 1956. The first shows the concourses added to the building, the second shows how 'boxed in' the terminal site was - Cicero Avenue runs just a few yards from the building.
Source: Christopher Lynch book

With jet aircraft on the drawing boards, Chicago officials were faced with a choice: embark on a costly expansion of MDW or find a greenfield site and build a new airport. By the 1950s Midway was hemmed in on every side with homes and businesses; extending the runways would require demolishing hundreds of houses. Instead, the city began developing Orchard Field, a small general aviation airport northwest of town, into a new international airport. The first stage of O'Hare Field, as the new facility would be known, was completed in 1955. All charter traffic was immediately transferred to O'Hare to ease the strain on the scheduled carriers at Midway.


The MDW terminal in 1960, at which point some operations had already been moved to O'Hare. Midway reached its peak in 1959, with more than 1300 daily flights.
Photo from Chicago Department of Aviation 1960 Annual Report


Another view of the Midway terminal in the early 1960s. From Chicago Department of Aviation 1962 Annual Report

Jets were introdcued by most of the major airlines serving Chicago in 1959; consequently, the major airlines began 'split operations' between O'Hare and Midway. Although initially Midway was viewed as more convenient, as the jets took over more and more routes it became difficult to coordinate schedules between the two airports. As a result, between 1961 and 1962 the airlines transferred all flights to O'Hare.


The last scheduled flight - a United Viscount - departs Midway on July 9, 1962.
Source: Christopher Lynch book


A view across Midway's abandoned terminal and parking lots in 1963. A few token cargo flights were kept at the airport, but between 1962 and 1964 all scheduled flights used O'Hare.
Photo from Chicago Department of Aviation 1963 Annual Report

The terminal building was now completely vacant except for a few city aviation offices. Chicago's Mayor Richard J. Daley was a staunch supporter of Midway, however, and almost immediately began lobbying the airlines to reintroduce scheduled flights with the new generation of short-haul jetliners. After some effort United was persuaded to return, and began a daily 727 service to New York-La Guardia. The flights used a somewhat refurbished gate in United's old 'slice' of the MDW terminal.

Although load factors on the flights were decent, the airlines told the city they would not restart service until the Midway terminal was refurbished to handle small jet aircraft. City officials decided to drastically renovate the terminal to bring it up to the same standards as O'Hare. Work began in late 1965; United suspended its La Guardia flights once construction required the demolition of its gate area.


An artist's rendering of the 'new' Midway terminal before construction began in 1965.
Photo from Chicago Department of Aviation 1967 Annual Report


An architectural floorplan of the refurbished MDW terminal, showing the interior layout.

The renovation required closing Midway's main east-west runway (which could not handle jet aircraft anyways) and expanding the terminal to more than twice its original size. The 'slices' in the main building were removed to form one continuous terminal space; the terminal was also widened and its ceilings raised. The passenger piers added in 1954 were razed and three full-size concourses, similar to those at O'Hare, were built in their place. A total of 29 gates, each with its own waiting room, was provided. Modern baggage claim facilities with carousels and belts were also added.


Two views of the MDW terminal after renovation work was finished in 1967. The first picture shows United's exclusive ticket counter and baggage claim area, located in approximately the same area as its 'slice' in the original terminal. This area was occupied by United from 1967-1973, Midway from 1979-1991, and Southwest from 1991-2001. The second photo shows the curbside area.
Photo from Chicago Department of Aviation 1967 Annual Report


A detailed diagram of the Midway terminal in 1968, after most airlines reintroduced flights. Note that Braniff has been allocated a ticket counter and two gates in the eastern portion of the building. For several years Braniff kept its ticket counter open as a general sales office, but flights using Gates C2 and C4 were never initiated.

Once the renovation was complete, almost all the scheduled carriers returned to Midway, along with a number of local-service airlines that were unable to obtain O'Hare slots. United leased five gates on Concourse A, which was also used by Eastern, North Central, Ozark, Northeast, Mohawk and Piedmont. American, TWA and Delta each took three gates on Concourse B, with the other three gates going to Frontier, Southern, and Allegheny. Northwest Orient took all five gates on Concourse C.


Three views of the landside area of the 'new' MDW in 1968. The first shows the new central baggage claim area, used by all airlines except United and Northwest. The second shows the main lobby area, with United's ticket counter and baggage wing in the background. The third shot shows the main ticketing hall.
Photos from Chicago Department of Aviation 1968 Annual Report


Midway's new gate areas. Although passengers continued to deplane aircraft via airstairs, the gate areas were large enough to accommodate jetbridges at a later date (this was not done until the late 1980s.) The second photo looks down the new Concourse B.
Photos from Chicago Department of Aviation 1968 Annual Report


An aerial view of the completed Midway terminal in 1968. "Aircraft" have been crudely added to the picture to the create the impression of a busy airport; however, traffic through MDW remained slow. Also note that Cicero Avenue has been rerouted to create more parking space.

Despite the deluge of new airlines (for a time MDW was served by more airlines than O'Hare), traffic through Midway remained stagnant. With the exception of United and Northwest, each of the airlines only scheduled three or four daily flights. Connections were almost impossible, and most passengers - even those who lived closer to Midway - continued to use O'Hare. The airport also gained an unsafe reputation following the crash of a United 737 into houses southeast of the airport in late 1972. When the Arab oil embargo in 1973 raised jet fuel prices, almost all airlines at MDW retreated back to O'Hare. Only Delta stayed, with a twice-daily DC9 service to St. Louis.


Diagrams of MDW in 1970. Although Midway was served by more domestic airlines than O'Hare, traffic through the building remained very light. As a result, the tightly-arranged ticket counters and shared gates rarely resulted in problems for the airlines.


The Midway terminal looks pretty unused in this photo from the early 1970s. A few aircraft are visible, but most of the gates are empty. A new air traffic control tower would be built atop Concourse B in 1973.
Source: Christopher Lynch book


The exodus of airlines from MDW has begun in this 1972 diagram - Frontier is gone, and Northeast and Mohawk have been folded into other carriers. All the airlines except Delta would follow suit within a year.

For most of the 1970s the terminal building sat abandoned, with only the Delta gate in use. The rest of the terminal was empty, although signs bearing the names of all the carriers were still on the walls and in the gate areas.

In 1979, however, a start-up carrier (the first airline created after Deregulation) came to Midway. Appropriately titled Midway Airlines, it would revitalize the empty terminal and aggresively develop MDW into Chicago's second gateway. It took over United's old ticket counter and a few empty gates on Concourse A.


Midway Airlines aircraft parked on Concourse A in 1982.
Reprinted from Airport World magazine

With gate space limited at O'Hare, quite a few major airlines restarted Midway service. By the mid-1980s, the airport was home to Air Florida, United (again), Delta, Northwest, USAir, America West, Republic Express and a few other carriers. In 1985, low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines began service, using a few gates on Concourse A. At this time, Midway Airlines occupied all of Concourse A (except the two Southwest gates) and all of Concourse B. The other carriers were crowded onto Concourse C.

In the late 1980s, jetway loading bridges were installed at all of MDW's gates. Passengers had to climb a small flight of stairs to get to the slightly elevated jetbridges.


Diagrams of MDW in the early 1990s, showing Midway Airlines as the dominant carrier at the airport. The third map is from a Midway Airlines timetable.

Midway took a hit in 1991 when 'hometown' carrier Midway Airlines collapsed. At the same time, United pulled out of MDW and several other carriers reduced services. Southwest Airlines was quick to take over all of Midway's Concourse A gates and soon became the airport's dominant carrier. New carriers continued to arrive - Continental, Kiwi International, ValuJet, American, Vanguard and the resurrected Frontier. In 1995, former charter carrier American Trans Air (ATA) decided to make MDW the hub of its new scheduled division.

By 1997, with passenger levels rising quickly, city officials began planning for a new terminal to replace the existing facility. They realized that some of the terminal had to be relocated across Cicero Avenue to allow for expansion on the airside. Construction began in 1998 on the first component of the $700 million project, a six-level parking garage.


A view of MDW in 1999. Note the jetways that have been added to the gates.


An aerial view of MDW in 1999 shows the new parking garage. Work is just getting underway on the relocated landside terminal. Photo by Soren Geertsen


Photos of the old MDW that I took on Thanksgiving Day 1999 - (A.) The original control tower and main terminal entrance (B.) An overview of the curbfront area, taken from the original CTA connector bridge (now demolished) (C.) two ATA 727s parked on Concourse C (D.) Looking from the CTA bridge across the Southwest ticketing/baggage claim area towards Concourse B, where two Southwest 737s, a National 757 and an American F100 are visible (E.) Looking from Concourse C towards Concourse B and the 1973 control tower.

The next phase of the project involved constructing a new three-level landside terminal across the street from the 1947 facility. This was formally opened in March of 2001. In its final configuration, the old terminal had changed little since 1967. Southwest occupied the former United ticket counters on the south end of the building; ATA had the northernmost ticket counters (originally used by Northwest Orient in 1967), and the rest of the airlines used the central counters. At the time the terminal closed, these counters were ordered, from north to south: Delta, AirTran, American, Continental, US Airways MetroJet, America West, National, Vanguard, Frontier, ProAir, Northwest. Most of these carriers were shoehorned into some of the smallest ticket counter areas I've ever seen.

Southwest and US Airways MetroJet used Concourse A, ATA used Concourse C, and everyone else used Concourse B. ATA and Southwest also leased a few gates on Concourse B.


An American Fokker 100 parked at a gate on the old Concourse B in 2001.


Two views of Southwest's old Concourse A in 2001. This concourse is still in use, although it will be closed permanently by the end of the year.


A satellite view of the Midway terminal in 2001, after the opening of the new landside terminal. To reach the gates, passengers had to use covered tunnels through the new gate construction areas, then walk through a temporary connector (the white structure connecting the two buildings) into the former ticket lobby.


A spectacular view of the MDW terminal area in early 2002. The 1948 terminal is in the foreground (note that the old Southwest ticketing/baggage claim wing has been removed). The first increment of the new concourse building has gone up in the old infield parking lot, although jetways have yet to be installed. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo - it was a folded photo from an MDW guidebook.

The final phase of the project involved replacing the old terminal with a new 41-gate concourse building. This was done in increments, with sections of the old terminal closing and new sections coming on-line to ensure a continuous total of 29 gates throughout construction. Four new gates opened in October 2001, followed by eight more in March 2002. The 'drum' control tower and most of the old main terminal was demolished at this time. Eight additional new gates were opened between March and May 2003.



Photos from a flight out of MDW on April 19, 2002 - (A.) Looking towards the original terminal landside. Three interim jetways have been installed along what was once the arrival/departure curbfront area (B.) A view from the "new" concourse B, the original terminal is being demolished (C.) The former main lobby of the 1947 terminal, near the junction of the original Concourses A and B. This was once the location of the main security checkpoint, although at the time the picture was taken, security had been moved into the new terminal (D.) Taxiing out in an ATA 737-800, the 1973 control tower and part of Southwest's old Concourse A are visible (E.) Taking off, with a view of the 1947 terminal demolition underway - note the 'drum' control tower lying askew in the rubble.


Three views of Concourse B: the first, from late 2001, shows Northwest and Continental aircraft parked at the gates. The second was taken after most of the concourse was closed in March 2002 and shows the jetbridges being removed. The final picture shows Concourse B just before it was demolished in summer 2002. The jetways are gone, and the apron has been plowed up - the following day, the concourse was gone.


An aerial view of MDW in summer 2002, showing the progression of the new concourses across the old terminal site. Concourse B has been demolished, and work on the 'new' Concourse B is just getting underway.


The 1973 control tower comes down in April 2003. In the background, one of the new gate areas can be seen.

Only a small section of the original terminal is still standing. The old Concourses B and C are now gone. Four gates were lopped off the end of the old Concourse A in 2003; the rest of the concourse should be demolished by the end of the year. The old ticket lobby was gutted and three 'temporary' gates were installed in 2002; these will be removed when the last section of the old terminal is razed.


Maps showing the progressive demolition of the original terminal: December 2001, March 2002, October 2002, and finally March 2003.

The new Midway terminal was formally completed in the spring of 2004, when the final five gates were finished. By that time the 1947 terminal had been demolished for more than a year. Today there is no trace of the old building left on the site.

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