Chicago & Midwest + South Side + Finance | February 8, 2023

S&P Upgrades Rating for Midway Airport Revenue Bonds

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings has upgraded Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) revenue bonds to ‘A’ from ‘A-’ and rated its outlook as ‘stable.’ The upgrade reflects S&P’s view of the South Side airport’s recovered activity levels, which the rating agency expects will continue to improve.

“As the Midway Modernization Program and O’Hare 21 capital improvement projects continue to advance, the Chicago Department of Aviation remains committed to being a strong fiscal steward of our region’s most vital economic engines,” said CDA Commissioner Jamie L. Rhee. MDW’s recent capital improvements include the security checkpoint expansion project, which doubled passenger throughput.

S&P’s assessment reflects its expectation that MDW will maintain stable and adequate financial performance due to the fully residual nature of its airline use and lease agreements. MDW’s terminal with three concourses serves more than 20 million passengers annually, making it the 29th busiest airport in the country.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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