Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) is one of two major commercial airports in the Chicago area. Located about 10 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, the airport has five runways and one terminal with 43 gates and three concourses.

Southwest Airlines
has the largest market share at Midway. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, there are 14,245 flights scheduled to and from the airport this month. Of those, 12,475 are Southwest flights or 87% of the market share.

Southwest operates the ten longest routes at Midway without competition. All of them are to the West Coast, to cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles. The first non-Southwest Airlines route is to Guadalajara, Mexico.

Volaris, a Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier, operates daily flights to Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara. The flight is 1,724 miles and blocked out at four hours.

Top five

The longest flight at Midway is to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Southwest operates the flight ten times weekly and deploys three different variants on the 1,854-mile route. Because of Southwest’s point-to-point model, the aircraft it uses in each direction changes. See the table below:

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

San Francisco

Boeing 737-700

25

Chicago Midway

San Francisco

Boeing 737 MAX 8

18

San Francisco

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

30

San Francisco

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

9

San Francisco

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

4

The second-longest route is to an airport just a few miles away from San Francisco. In fact, due to recent changes, San Francisco is now part of the airport name. The flight to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, formerly Oakland International Airport, is ten miles shorter than the flight to SFO.

Port of Oakland Photo - Southwest and Hawaiian Jets (3x2)

The flight to Oakland is operated twice daily. Like the route to San Francisco, Southwest operates three aircraft variants to Oakland.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

Oakland

Boeing 737 MAX 8

43

Chicago Midway

Oakland

Boeing 737-700

17

Oakland

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

26

Oakland

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

21

Oakland

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

13

Continuing with San Francisco area airports, we come to the third-longest route from Midway. Number three is just six miles shorter than number two. The flight to San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) is 1,838 miles long. This flight is operated 13 times weekly by two variants of Southwest’s 737s in each direction.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

San Jose

Boeing 737 MAX 8

51

Chicago Midway

San Jose

Boeing 737-700

5

San Jose

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

39

San Jose

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

17

The fourth route is not much shorter than the flight to San Jose, but it is the first non-San Francisco area airport on the list. Sacramento International Airport (SMF), located in the California capital, has about 20 weekly Southwest flights from Midway.

Two airport gate screens showing information for Southwest Airlines flights to Sacramento and Chicago.

Photo: V_E | Shutterstock

The flight is 1,790 miles and has all three variants in Southwest’s fleet used for those operations.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

Sacramento

Boeing 737-700

48

Chicago Midway

Sacramento

Boeing 737 MAX 8

33

Sacramento

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

54

Sacramento

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

21

Sacramento

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

6

The fifth-longest route is the first to an airport outside of California. Like with Sacramento, Southwest operates this route about 20 times weekly, using all of its aircraft. The flight to Portland International Airport (PDX), one of Alaska Airlines’ primary airports, is 1,751 miles long.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

Portland

Boeing 737-800

47

Chicago Midway

Portland

Boeing 737 MAX 8

34

Portland

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

40

Portland

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

25

Portland

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

16

Five through ten

The sixth-longest route is back in California, to the busiest airport in the state. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is crucial to Southwest’s operations in California and has the sixth-longest route from Midway. The flight to LAX is operated about 28 times weekly, with all variants in the Southwest fleet.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 landing at LAX shutterstock_1028855347

Photo: Angel DiBilio | Shutterstock

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

Los Angeles

Boeing 737 MAX 8

112

Chicago Midway

Los Angeles

Boeing 737-700

6

Los Angeles

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

85

Los Angeles

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

29

Los Angeles

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

5

The Los Angeles area has five commercial airports that receive Southwest service. Of those, three are connected to Midway. Long Beach Airport (LGB), located just 21 miles from LAX, is the seventh-longest route. The 1,741-mile flight to Long Beach is operated by just two aircraft variants.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

Long Beach

Boeing 737-800

25

Chicago Midway

Long Beach

Boeing 737 MAX 8

9

Long Beach

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

21

Long Beach

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

13

As mentioned above, three Los Angeles area airports are connected to Midway. The last of them is Hollywood Burbank International Airport (BUR). Southwest operates this flight almost daily in September, deploying its 737-700s. The flight to Burbank is just one mile shorter than the one to Long Beach.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

Burbank

Boeing 737-700

29

Burbank

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

29

SEA International Arrivals facility luggage carousels

Photo: Seattle – Tacoma International Airport

An airport all the way in the Northwest corner of the lower 48 in the US has the ninth-longest route. THe flight to Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is 1,733 miles long. Southwest uses two aircraft variants from Chicago and three from Seattle.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

Seattle

Boeing 737 MAX 8

76

Chicago Midway

Seattle

Boeing 737-700

9

Seattle

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

54

Seattle

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

18

Seattle

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

13

Rounding out the top ten is one more California airport. The flight to San Diego International Airport (SAN) is 1,728-miles long. Southwest uses all of its variants for an average of about 25 weekly flights.

Origin

Destination

Aircraft type

Number of flights

Chicago Midway

San Diego

Boeing 737-700

62

Chicago Midway

San Diego

Boeing 737-800

22

Chicago Midway

San Diego

Boeing 737 MAX 8

19

San Diego

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-700

51

San Diego

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737-800

30

San Diego

Chicago Midway

Boeing 737 MAX 8

22

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