Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

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 <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2025-02-26/swa-737-goes-around-after-midway-runway-incursion">runway incursion</a> 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.

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Chicago Midway Airport Is Decommissioning Closed Runway 13L-31R

The project will add holding, parking, and deicing areas to what is now Taxiway H

Chicago’s Department of Aviation and the FAA announced that Chicago Midway International Airport’s Runway 13L-31R will be formally decommissioned on June 12.

Chicago Midway Decommissioning Closed Runway 13L-31R

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