Why Did Midway Airport Die Three Times and Still Survive?

Chicago's Midway Airport history is wild: the world's busiest airport died three times and kept coming back, until Southwest dumped O'Hare for it. You'll discover how an onion field became the busiest airport on Earth, why the jet age left it with only helicopters, and how the 1973 fuel crisis emptied it again. See how Midway Airlines and deregulation revived it, why Mayor Richard M. Daley planned to close Midway Airport, and how Southwest Airlines made it Chicago's comeback airport. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Why Southwest Left O'Hare for Midway 1:43 Midway's Onion Field Origins 3:28 The World's Busiest Airport 4:07 How the Jet Age Killed Midway 8:38 The 1973 Fuel Crisis Exodus 9:31 Midway Airlines and Deregulation 12:15 Daley's Plan to Close Midway Airport 13:55 How Southwest Saved Midway Did you fly out of Midway or grow up near 63rd and Cicero? Share your story in the comments, then like and subscribe for more Chicago history. SOURCES 1. Midway History - Chicago Department of Aviation https://flychicago.com/business/CDA/P... 2. Midway International Airport - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_... 3. Chicago Midway International Airport in Postcards - World Airline Historical Society https://wahsonline.com/2022/06/chicag... 4. Looking Back At 'The World's Busiest Airport' - WTTW https://interactive.wttw.com/playlist... 5. Midway Airport celebrates 82 years - ABC7 Chicago https://abc7chicago.com/archive/6131213 6. DePaul: Schwieterman on Midway's history (Terminal Town) https://wdat.is.depaul.edu/newsroom/y... 7. Flashback Fridays: Chicago Midway and Southwest Airlines - Southwest Community https://community.southwest.com/t5/Bl... 8. 50 years ago a plane crashed into homes outside Midway - Chicago Tribune via AviationPros https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft... 9. United Flight 553 - University of Wisconsin https://ous.wisc.edu/2019/12/06/unite... 10. A plane crash 50 years ago changed the course of U.S. history - Yahoo News https://www.yahoo.com/now/plane-crash... 11. Midway Airport getting more parking, concessions and checkpoints - Chicago Sun-Times https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/mid... 12. Midway Airlines Corporation - Encyclopedia.com https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/po... 13. The Multiple Strategies of Midway Airlines - Metro Airport News https://metroairportnews.com/the-mult... 14. A Third Chicago Airport - Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society https://www.wrhistoricalsociety.com/a... 15. Hegewisch, Chicago - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegewis... 16. Southwest Airlines to end service at O'Hare, shift Chicago flights to Midway - FOX 32 Chicago https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/sou... 17. Southwest Airlines Ends Chicago O'Hare Flights - One Mile at a Time https://onemileatatime.com/news/south... 18. Hall v. Board of Education (Midway section 16 land) https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion... #Chicago #MidwayAirport #ChicagoHistory #SouthwestAirlines #OHare #Chitown