City: Chicago, IL

Category: Getting Here, Getting Around

Telephone: (773) 838-0600

Address: 10 miles southwest of downtown Chicago

Description: Midway opened in 1927 and was originally called Chicago’s Municipal Airport. It changed names in 1949 to honor the World War II turning-point Battle of Midway that took place in 1942. The airport was already being used by the US military and continued to be an important stop-off point for crewmen on their journey across country. There now stands a beautiful Battle of Midway Memorial inside the terminal. Other artwork includes a sculpture of a flying bird that’s made from small metal figures of aircraft.Once an almost charmingly small airport, Midway received a makeover in 2001 that transformed it into a thoroughly modern midsized airport and one of the nation’s fastest-growing, serving more than 17 million passengers a year on airlines such as Air Tran, Delta, Frontier, and Southwest, for which Midway is a major hub. There is just one terminal at Midway, but it encompasses three concourses—A, B, and C—and 43 gates. Concourse A sees all international flights; Concourse B is dominated by Southwest; and Concourse C is mostly for Delta. A triangle-shaped central food and shopping court features a range of options such as local favorites Harry Caray’s, Nuts on Clark, Lalo’s Mexican Restaurant, Taylor Street Market for Italian specialties, and Manny’s Express (a quick-serve version of the city’s famous deli). Power stations in Concourses A and B give passengers a place to plug in their electronics.