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To advance Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's plan to privatize Midway Airport, a request for qualifications invites interested private-sector parties to submit forms by March 31. After evaluating these qualifications, Chicago officials will then select a short list of candidates and seek bids from this group.

By leasing the airport, Chicago officials expect to raise up to $3 billion, which will be used to subsidize the city’s underfunded public-pension plans and long-term infrastructure needs.

“The taxpayers of Chicago will benefit through a substantial payment to the city that we can use to enhance quality of life for our residents,” said Paul Volpe, chief financial officer for the city of Chicago.

To date, five of the airport’s seven airline carriers, representing 95 percent of flight traffic, have given preliminary approval to the privatization plan. Under federal law, this approval was necessary before proceeding with the bidding process.

The leasing arrangement is reported to be a landmark transaction, marking the first privatization of a major airport in the United States.

Midway Airport is conveniently located 10 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. The airport offers leisure and business travel to more than 55 destinations. During 2007, the airport’s five runways handled more than 304,000 aircraft operations and transported more than 19.1 million passengers.