Airlines Urge FAA To Save Tiny US Island Airport Critical For Pacific Emergency Landings

Published Sep 28, 2026, 4:22 AM EDT A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for history and regional aviation, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft. He has visited OEM facilities as far and wide as Bristol, Toulouse, and Seattle, and recently enjoyed the milestone of flying his 150th sector as a passenger. Based in Norfolk, UK. Henderson Field (MDY) is a small airport on Midway Atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is not currently served by any scheduled commercial passenger flights. However, its convenient location between the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region makes it vital to transpacific operations in the event of a flight needing to divert. Now, its role on this front may be under threat as it requires an upgrade. This has prompted a flurry of responses from airlines that operate transpacific flights. These carriers are urging the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States to proceed with the upgrades and keep the facility open, to ensure that it can remain an ETOPS alternate airport going forward. If not, such flights would likely have to take less efficient routes, resulting in increased costs for airlines. Upgrades Required According to coverage of the matter by One Mile At A Time, Midway Atoll's Henderson Field Airport last handled regularly scheduled commercial flights back in 2002. Today, its 40-odd residents are reliant on charter flights, and the condition of the airport has gone downhill in recent years. This, Aero South Pacific reports, has left the FAA weighing up a $100 million upgrade package to keep it open. One Mile At A Time quotes the United States Department of Transportation as saying that "milling, repaving, and seawall repairs" are key parts of this package, with the "runway expected to reach a severe level of deterioration within the next five years." As such, AIN notes that the FAA invited comments from aviation stakeholders to make their case for the airport. One was Japanese carrier Zipair, who said that: "There are flights where MDY is necessary, particularly for flights departing from LAX, SJC, and SFO during the summer season. Regardless of the specific percentages, MDY is a critically important airport for our operations throughout the year." A Small Airport With Big Safety Implications While, at 7,800 feet (2,377 meters) in length, Midway's runway 06/24 is not the longest, it is sufficient for handling widebody aircraft should the need for a diversion arise. This is just as well, as Henderson Field is the only suitable airport for many miles around. Here, Aero South Pacific notes that almost all of Zipair and Japan Airlines' flights to Honolulu have Midway as their main ETOPS alternate airport. Midway also plays a key role on this front regarding flights between Asia and the mainland of the United States. Elsewhere, ch-aviation notes that, if Henderson Field were to lose its ETOPS alternate certification as a result of not being upgraded, Qantas would also have to reconsider the routing for its forthcoming ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise flights to ensure that a suitable diversion remained in reach. This, it said, would disrupt operations and increase costs, with these likely being passed on to passengers in the form of higher fares. As such, it is clear that the $100 million upgrade package is necessary in order to keep transpacific operations ticking over. After all, while it is rare that flights have to divert to Midway, the costs of keeping it open likely outweigh those that would result elsewhere from closing it. Commercial Aircraft Visits Are Rare But Not Unheard Of As seen above, while Midway has not seen commercial flights for 24 years, there has still been a precedent for commercial aircraft flying there in the intervening period. Most notably, a Continental Airlines Boeing 737 touched down there in 2008 as part of the 66th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Midway. More recently, however, its main commercial aircraft visits have been diversions. For instance, as reported at the time by Simple Flying, September 2021 saw a Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 land there after developing an oil pressure issue on its way from Seoul (ICN) to Honolulu (HNL). As noted by Dispatcher, this was one of at least three such incidents between 2011 and 2021: the other two involved a Delta 747 in 2011 and a United 777 in 2014, both of which had over 300 passengers.