Story ID: 
Chicago Midway Decommissioning Closed Runway 13L-31R
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: The project will add holding, parking, and deicing areas to what is now Taxiway H
Word Count: 214
Chicago’s Department of Aviation and the FAA have announced that Chicago Midway International Airport’s Runway 13L-31R will be formally decommissioned on June 12 and 13C-31C will be redesignated as 13L-31R. Runway 13L-31R was closed in 2023 and became Taxiway H, but the Runway 13C-31C designation for the former center runway didn’t change.
Although it appears a runway incursion on February 25 may have led to the decision to accelerate the formal decommissioning and renaming, the process began a year earlier with environmental reviews and permitting under a federal infrastructure project.
During the incursion, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 crew performed a go-around after a Flexjet Bombardier Challenger 300 crossed active Runway 13C-31C without a clearance. According to the NTSB preliminary report, “The captain stated that as he approached Runway 13C-31C, he had thought it was Runway 13R-31L. As they approached the runway intersection, the crew stated they both looked to the left and to the right and did not observe the [Southwest 737] on final.”
Once the decommissioning of the closed runway is completed, part of the decommissioned runway will be turned into a holding, parking, and deicing pad, according to the FAA. The estimated cost of the project is $79.2 million.