Midway Airlines (1976–1991)
Chicago Midway Airport-based airline (1976–1991) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Midway Airlines was a United States airline based in Chicago, Illinois. It was incorporated on October 13, 1976, by Kenneth T. Carlson, Irving T. Tague and William B. Owens, filing with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for an airline operating certificate. Although it received its operating certificate from the CAB prior to the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, it was viewed as the first post-deregulation start-up. The airline commenced operations on November 1, 1979.[1]
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Founded | 13 October 1976 | ||||||
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Commenced operations | 1 November 1979 (1979-11-01) | ||||||
Ceased operations | 13 November 1991 (1991-11-13) | ||||||
Hubs | Chicago Midway Philadelphia | ||||||
Frequent-flyer program | FlyersFirst | ||||||
Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois | ||||||
Key people | David R. Hinson (CEO) |
The airline was notable for breathing new life into Midway International Airport, then called Chicago Midway Airport, which had lost most of its scheduled flights to O'Hare International Airport. The airline took its name from the airport, which in turn took its name from the World War II Pacific theater Battle of Midway. The carrier was also notable for pursuing at least three distinct business models during its life, starting as a discount carrier, moving to an all business-class airline before ending its life as a conventional airline.
Midway was never highly or consistently profitable, but unlike many bigger and/or more prominent airlines (e.g. Braniff, People Express, Western Airlines and Piedmont Airlines to pick just a few) it survived the 1980s, an achievement. Unfortunately management threw it all away in one disastrous 1989 decision, the purchase of the Philadelphia hub of bankrupt Eastern Air Lines. This led directly to Midway’s March 1991 Chapter 11 filing. A deal was struck to sell the company, still operating in bankruptcy, to Northwest Airlines, which backed out at the last minute, leaving Midway dead in November 1991.
A group of investors, including Carlson, bought the airline's name (for $20,000) and started another Midway Airlines, which flew from 1993 to 2003.[2][3]