MDW - no slowdown for 2003

A far cry from its "dead" years:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...-midway12.html

Midway's traffic going up, up, up

November 12, 2003

BY ROBERT C. HERGUTH Transportation Reporter Advertisement

Midway Airport handled more takeoffs and landings last month than it has in
more than a decade, according to preliminary federal data.

The Southwest Side airport processed 30,948 flights in October, up by more
than 2,500 from the previous month and more than 3,300 from a year earlier,
according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The October figure is the highest since at least January 1990, which is as
far as the FAA's computerized monthly records extend, said FAA spokesman
Tony Molinaro.

"You've got ATA and Southwest Airlines both growing substantially and you've
got the Meigs traffic coming in constantly, but the FAA won't acknowledge
that," said Kevin Rojek, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers
Association at Midway.

The lakefront's Meigs Field was closed by Mayor Daley last spring, and
traffic has dispersed to a number of local airports, including Midway,
although FAA officials say Midway's growth has more to do with commercial
jet traffic than the smaller planes Meigs was known for.

Either way, "it's just getting busier and busier," Rojek said, projecting
Midway will handle 335,000 flights in 2003. That'd be another modern record.

Southwest, for instance, is expected to start offering service from Midway
to Philadelphia in coming months, one official said. A Southwest spokeswoman
said her carrier will begin serving that city in 2004, but she couldn't yet
say if flights would originate in Chicago.

Midway controllers believe the traffic volume further illustrates the need
for the installation of a ground radar and a change in the airspace
designation that would require pilots to check in with the Midway tower over
a greater area of Chicago.

"The thing is, right now there are airplanes that don't have to talk to
controllers as they're flying by, they could be at 1,900 feet right under
the approach to the runway'' at Midway, Rojek said.

Molinaro said there have been no formal proposals for an airspace change,
which a general aviation trade group vigorously opposes because of the
additional requirements it would bring.

A ground radar, meanwhile, also would improve safety when controllers have a
restricted view of the airfield during bad weather, Rojek said. It would
show where planes are on runways and taxiways -- which controllers say are
increasingly busy these days.

"We heard from the FAA there were plans to install a system at Midway,"
Deputy Chicago Aviation Erin O'Donnell said earlier this fall. She was
unaware of a time frame.

Midway handled more than 303,000 flights in 2002, the largest number since
1990 when it saw around 320,000.

Midway -- once the world's busiest airport and now undergoing a more-than-$1
billion redevelopment that includes a new terminal, more parking and other
improvements -- handled 431,400 arrivals and departures in 1959.

"Ozzy Kopec" wrote in message
newsRYsb.141189$mZ5.979852@attbi_s54...
A far cry from its "dead" years:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...-midway12.html

Midway's traffic going up, up, up
BIG SNIP
Midway -- once the world's busiest airport and now undergoing a
more-than-$1
billion redevelopment that includes a new terminal, more parking and other
improvements -- handled 431,400 arrivals and departures in 1959.

On one rainy evening in about 1958 I was on a plane waiting to take off from
Midway. The pilot said we were number 50 in the queue. I was connecting
from an Ozark flight and had wondered about seeing the long rows of flashing
red lights around the airport when we landed - they were planes in the
takeoff queue.

Let's hope MDW doesn't get like that again.