Chicago Midway International Airport , also known simply as Midway Airport or Midway, is an airport in Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's southwest side, eight miles (13 km) from Chicago's Loop. The airport's current IATA code MDW has been in use since it was implemented in 1949 when Chicago Municipal Airport was renamed Chicago Midway Airport. Clockwise from the north it is bordered by 55th Street, Cicero Avenue (terminal entrance), 63rd Street, and Central Avenue. The airport's northern half is within the Garfield Ridge community area, and the southern half is within the Clearing community area. The airport is managed by the Chicago Airport System, which also oversees operations at O'Hare International Airport and Gary/Chicago International Airport. Midway is heavily used by low-cost carriers, such as AirTran Airways, ATA Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, and to a lesser extent by legacy carriers, such as Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Northwest Airlines. Both the Stevenson Expressway and Chicago Transit Authority's "L" Train Orange Line provide passengers easy access to downtown Chicago.

Chicago Midway Airport is the second largest passenger airport in the Chicago metropolitan area, and is the second busiest in the state of Illinois after Chicago O'Hare International Airport. In 2006, 18,868,388 passengers traveled through Chicago Midway, second behind O'Hare International Airport, and ahead of Gary/Chicago International Airport and Chicago Rockford International Airport. In 2005, Chicago Midway International Airport was the 30th busiest airport in the United States in terms of passenger traffic. In its 80-year history of passenger traffic, Midway Airport has had 21 incidents and accidents, and only one accident since 1976. Chicago Midway International Airport ranked third amongst large airports in the nation for "Best On-Time Arrival Rates" in June 2007, with 75.4% of all flights (8,087) arriving on time, a 3.8% increase from the previous year.

Today, Midway Airport serves as a focus city for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and Orlando-based AirTran Airways, and is also the main operations base for Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines (ATA), which, in addition to its domestic network of 2 destinations, flies internationally from Midway to 2 cities in Mexico; 4 overall. Since November 2007, ATA has made several service cuts from its former Chicago Midway hub, recently discontinuing service to Washington D.C. (DCA), New York (LGA), and Ontario (ONT). Announced in March 2008, ATA will end all scheduled service to Midway in June 2008. Domestic service will end on April 14, while international service to Cancún and Guadalajara will end on June 7, 2008. Southwest is the dominant carrier at Midway, controlling 29 of the airport's 43 gates. Currently, the airline offers 227 daily departures to 47 destinations. AirTran is the second largest carrier, occupying 4 out of the 43 gates at Midway, and offering 26 daily nonstop flights to 9 destinations; 6 of which are served year-round. Currently the city is seeking approval from the current airline carriers to auction a lease for the operation rights of the airport to a private company. Such a lease is estimated to be valued at $3 billion dollars for the city. Approval by five of the seven carriers is required.