At the 60th anniversary of the pivotal naval battle that saved it from Japanese occupation, Midway Island is again fighting for its life–at least its economic life as a viable destination airport (MDY). According to Midway Phoenix, the company that operated the airport under contract from 1996 until last May 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now keeping the field open only for its own support. All commercial charter flights that used to serve a small resort hotel have ceased to operate.
Midway Phoenix maintained the airport as a Part 139 facility, with all the maintenance and firefighting capability associated with that section of the FARs. Now, said a representative from Midway Phoenix, two other companies are fielding skeleton crews at MDY to keep it open for Gulfstream I flights to support the Fish and Wildlife Service and for the Coast Guard as an emergency facility. According to the representative, the Fish and Wildlife Service has shipped $500,000 worth of jet fuel to Midway. MDY is located some 1,200 nm northwest of Hawaii, and is of interest to aircraft operators in the north Pacific for its availability as an extended twin-engine operations (Etops) emergency runway.
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