The Only US Airline That Abandoned Its Namesake Hub & Kept The Brand Anyway

Midway Airlines was created specifically to rescue Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) after major carriers shifted traffic to O’Hare. Incorporated in 1976, the airline began service on November 1, 1979 with three DC-9s, then built Midway into a hub that handled millions of passengers. Financial pressure followed: it filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and shut down on November 13 that year. A group of investors bought the “Midway Airlines” name for $20,000, relaunching flights from MDW in November 1993. After 18 months of competition against Southwest at Midway, it moved to Raleigh-Durham (RDU) in 1995 and ceased operations permanently in October 2003.