During this vacation travel season, a couple of million passengers can be expected to pass through Midway Airport. But it wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for the aeronautical equivalent of the “Little Engine That Could.”
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But the money was found, providing pilot William Curry an experience he wouldn’t have had flying for a major carrier. For Curry, a retired first officer and captain with Midway, hand-me-down aircraft had what he considered an unlikely virtue: not everything worked consistently. Considering Midway Airport’s lack of curb appeal, it’s understandable that investors weren’t eager to risk their money on a startup based there. On Aug. 28, 1961, a Tribune reporter painted a word picture of a ghost town. Empty seats and spick-and-span tables in the snack shops. No lines at the check-in counters, and few flights either coming or going.
In the 1950s, Midway was the busiest airport in the United States. Aircraft then had propellers. But as they sprouted jets, Midway paid the price of its geometry. Built on Chicago’s street grid, its runways were limited to a milelong square, or about 6,500 ft. The CAB in 1978 approved Midway Airlines’ offer to take up the slack and operate out of Midway. Geography and O’Hare’s success — for many years it was the world’s busiest airport — favored the Southwest Side airport’s revitalization. It was closer to downtown Chicago than O’Hare, in addition to being easier to navigate. Midway Airlines’ extended an invitation with an ad headlined: “Go Midway and Kiss O’Hare goodbye.
“It was supposed to be first-come, first-served,” said Ottis Gaines, who hoped to take his seven children to Detroit. “But the way they ran it was first animal in line.”
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