For years, ETOPS-qualified aircraft scheduling has always taken into consideration that Midway Atoll (named "Midway" because it is situated roughly midway between Tokyo and San Francisco - actually 2,800 miles west of SFO and 2,200 miles east of Japan, and about 600 miles west of HNL,) airfield has been kept open - most recently by contractors funded by the U S Department of the Interior. The US Department of Transporation has paid $3.5M to Interior to keep the field open, and says it will provide a further $300,000 to keep the field open until November 20, 2004, but DOT has declared it is determined to stop funding Midway. The airlines are expressing considerable upset, especially as this may significantly affect routing and fuel economy at a time of high fuel prices, depending of course on actual weather and winds aloft conditions.

An old USFWS article says "Located less than 150 miles from the International Dateline, Midway... geographically, is part of the Hawaiian archipelago but is an insular U.S. possession, discovered in 1859 and annexed to the United States in 1867." Pan Am used Midway (Sand Island) as an interim stop for its transpacific Clipper service, and the US Navy operated an airstrip and base (now abandoned) on North Island for many years.

After WW II, a new base was opened on Sand Island with a capable airstrip, near the original Cable and Pan Am operations buildings. Eventually, the base was abandoned, and Midway became a National Wildlife Refuge - considerable restoration work ocurred, and Midway Phoenix Corporation was contracted with to operate an eco-tourism, scuba diving and catch-and-release trophy fishing operation on Midway. MPC also operated the airstrip for Naval and other operations, and the US Coast Guard has used it when ships laden with illegal imigrants have been intercepted at sea. The primary income for MPC nonetheless had been from aircraft landing in emergencies and using the Midway hospital (staffed with a doctor, nursing personnel, and even equipped with a hyperbaric pressure chamber,) according to personnel I discussed this with on my stay at Midway in August 1999. MPC departed in 2002 due to their inability to make the financials work out, and island visitation has been closed since then.

GeoEngineers, and later Chugach McKinley Inc., were issued contracts to operate the base side of things. It appears the base operation is currently an issue of contention between governmeent agencies, and airline operations may be impacted. Lots of FTers are more aware than I of the exact impacts - so I am hoping some will fill in the blanks here. Big deal, or not needed any more?