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Chicagoland Airports | MDW/GYY/ORD/RFD

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#1 ·
FAA endorses Chicago's plan to expand O'Hare Airport, but opponents vow legal action
By MIKE COLIAS
29 July 2005

CHICAGO (AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration has endorsed the city's $15 billion effort to expand O'Hare International Airport and reduce the nation's worst flight delays, but the plan still faces opposition from communities that would be gutted to build new runways and taxiways.

Mayor Richard Daley said construction would begin immediately after the FAA gives final approval for the plan, which is expected by September. The agency endorsed the plan Thursday in its environmental impact statement.

"When we reduce delays at O'Hare, it will speed up air travel throughout the nation, saving millions of dollars in time and fuel," Daley said.

But a 440-acre expansion would require the city to buy and raze more than 500 homes, displacing some 2,600 residents, and would require relocation of nearly 200 businesses and a cemetery with 1,300 tombs dating back to the 1800s.

"You cannot approve a project that can't be paid for and would cause more delays than it solves," said Joe Karaganis, an attorney for Elk Grove Village and Bensenville, suburbs that have fiercely fought O'Hare expansion for decades.

Jared Leland, an attorney for the owners of the threatened cemetery, said his clients would sue if the FAA decides in favor of the plan.

Congestion at delay-prone O'Hare can quickly cause gridlock throughout the U.S. commercial aviation system. A Transportation Department study released earlier this year ranked O'Hare last in on-time departures and arrivals during 2004, with 30 percent of flights arriving late and 73 percent departing on time.

The plan's opponents claim the city has exaggerated the benefits of expanding the airport and lowballed the cost.

A report released last week by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general also said the city has underestimated the project's cost, which could affect funding for airports nationwide because cities compete for money from the same federal program.

In addition, the report said the city has applied for an "unprecedented" $528 million in grants for the project, along with an additional $248 million for capital improvements over the next 20 years.

Daley on Thursday insisted that the city will have the funds to complete the expansion. Federal money would cover about 10 percent of the total cost, while revenue bonds and passenger facility charges would make up the rest, he said.

A cost-benefit analysis the city submitted to the FAA earlier this year projected the expansion would save more than $12 billion over nearly two decades by reducing passenger and aircraft delays -- a finding opponents deny.

The eight-year plan would reconfigure O'Hare's intersecting runway layout to a design of six parallel and two diagonal runways, which planners say would make it easier for planes to take off and land. The plan also includes a new terminal building, parking spaces for oversize planes and jet bridges.

The first new runway would open in 2007 and construction would be complete in 2013. The FAA report determined the project would result in only minimal impacts on air and water quality and noise levels.

To solve the gridlock problem at O'Hare, some politicians have proposed a third airport in the Chicago area. In April, Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave federal aviation officials a blueprint for a single-runway, five-gate airport near the town of Peotone. The airport would eventually expand to four runways and 12 gates and would be tailor-made for discount carriers.

Many aviation experts, however, are skeptical a third airport would draw the interest of airlines or passengers.
 
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#2 ·
FAA head says Chicago could need new airport
17 September 2008

CHICAGO (AP) - A new airport or vast expansion of one of Chicago's existing airports will be necessary to keep pace with booming demand for air travel in the coming decades, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday.

That's in addition to an ongoing $15 billion expansion of O'Hare International Airport pushed through by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Robert Sturgell, the FAA's acting administrator, told The Associated Press.

"Mayor Daley has done a great job in transforming Chicago with a plan, but they need another airport as well," said Sturgell, who didn't immediately offer details on where a new airport could be built in the nation's third largest city.

Chicago plays too vital a role as an aviation hub not to further upgrade airport capacity, Sturgell said, adding that he appreciated the fierce resistance such projects can generate, including from residents worried about noise and air pollution.

"It takes a lot of local political will to move new runways and airports forward," he said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.

Other cities like New York and Atlanta will also need new airports or ambitious expansion projects, he said.

More than a dozen new runways have opened in the United States since 2000, with three more opening this November, including at O'Hare.

But Sturgell said that won't suffice over the long run.

Despite a drop in flights this year with high fuel prices cutting into airline profits, the number of air travelers could double to 1 billion annually over the next decade, Sturgell said. And since newer, streamlined planes will carry fewer passengers, the total number of planes flying in and out of airports could increase at an even faster rate, he said.

In a 2007 report, the FAA noted that just two major airports have opened in the last 40 years -- Dallas- Fort Worth and Denver International. As many as four would have to be built over the next 20 to 30 years, he said.

New airports and runway expansions would have to happen in conjunction with implementation of a new satellite-guided air traffic system, dubbed NextGen, Sturgell said. That would replace the current, radar-based system, which deploys 1950s-era radar technology.

The newer, more efficient system is expected to cost more than $30 billion, and the FAA wants to have it fully operational by the 2020s. But questions about just how to install it and about who should pay what costs have raised doubts about whether it will be up and running by then.
 
#4 ·
The problem with that is State of Illinois will not get any tax from it and they are hence opposed to expanding Gary/Chicago Intl airport. The Tax from this airport would go to both the cities of Gary and Chicago and hence have the support of the mayors of both the places.
 
#6 ·
Ads fuel fight over cemetery blocking O'Hare expansion
Notices of Chicago plan to relocate graves draw fire from opponents

5 July 2009
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

Jul. 5--Newspaper and radio ads about the $15 billion O'Hare International Airport expansion have drawn the ire of supporters of a 160-year-old Bensenville cemetery in the path of a planned runway.

The ads, which ran in the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald and on WGN and WBBM-AM radio, notified relatives of people buried in St. Johannes Cemetery that Chicago "has commenced legal proceedings to acquire the cemetery" and move the graves to other cemeteries. The notice also encourages relatives to call the O'Hare Modernization Program's cemetery administrator "to learn more about the relocation process.".

"You may have an opportunity to participate," the ad states. Chicago "will be responsible for paying all necessary and reasonable costs associated with the relocation of the graves."

The problem, St. Johannes preservationists contend, is that a court fight over the cemetery relocation is ongoing. They also note that the ads fail to notify people that they can challenge the planned cemetery move. That failure is a violation of a court order outlining the public notice, said Joe Karaganis, an attorney representing St. John's United Church of Christ, the church that owns the cemetery.

"The city does not own the cemetery," Karaganis said.

City Aviation Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said the ads, which ran in May and June, were part of an agreement signed by the Federal Aviation Administration, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Illinois State Historic Preservation Agency.

"This is just work we wanted to do in order to compile the list of relatives," Rodriguez said. "We understand that this is a very sensitive matter and are committed to treating the next of kin, church officials and anyone that may be affected with the utmost respect every step of the way."
 
#7 ·
3 US airports unveil new runways amid global economic woes, drop in domestic flights
21 November 2008

CHICAGO (AP) - Planes began taking off from new multimillion-dollar runways at three U.S. airports on Thursday with aviation officials heralding the increased capacity as crucial to reducing delays, even in the face of a slumping economy and a projected decline in domestic flights this winter.

More than $450 million was spent on the runway at Chicago's O'Hare International; approximately $350 million went into the runway at Dulles International, just outside Washington, D.C.; and more than $1 billion went toward Seattle-Tacoma International's new strip.

"Aviation has always been a growing industry," said acting Federal Aviation Administration Director Robert Sturgell, who traveled to all of the opening ceremonies with Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. "We're building for the future."

O'Hare inaugurated the vital global hub's first new runway in nearly 40 years when a plane carrying Mayor Richard Daley and other officials touched down Thursday on the stark white concrete.

"This is a historic day for Chicago, Illinois, and the country," Daley said as snow fell around him. The new runway enhances Chicago's "position as the aviation city in the world, in the United States."

The runway is part of a planned $15 billion expansion at O'Hare, which envisions another new runway and terminal by 2014. But the airport hasn't secured funding for that second phase, and six of the airport's carriers are balking at the cost in light of economic woes.

At Dulles, an American Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles took off, kicking up a small cloud of dust and opening the airport's first new runway since it opened in 1962.

But air traffic controllers noted taxiways needed to make Dulles' new runway fully functional aren't slated for completion until summer, meaning the runway's practical benefit will be minimal and dampened by a confusing two-mile taxi route to and from the strip.

The airstrip at Seattle-Tacoma opened Thursday evening. Detractors have criticized its billion-dollar price tag, which is five times initial estimates. Defenders say it will more than pay for itself in decades to come, including by reducing delays.

David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents U.S. carriers, called the construction work a positive step but said more needs to be done.

"The greater challenge will be to do something about modernizing air space so that those improvements in efficiency on the ground is matched in the air," Castelveter said.

The association backs a Federal Aviation Administration push for a new satellite-based network that would let planes fly using GPS instead of radar. Funding and implementation issues have hampered the $30 billion project.

Meanwhile, nationwide bottlenecks, particularly around chronically clogged New York City-area airports, will continue hampering delay-reduction efforts, Castelveter predicted.

The FAA acknowledges that new runways aren't the sole answer to solving delays, noting in a 2007 report that just two major U.S. airports have opened in the past 40 years -- Dallas-Fort Worth and Denver International -- and that as many as four need to be built in the next two to three decades.

Chronically cramped LaGuardia Airport in New York may get a new central terminal as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey pushes for a replacement. The agency, which operates the airport, authorized a $40 million study Thursday that should result in a new design for the 45-year-old terminal.

Despite current downturns -- data show domestic flights fell 6 percent in August -- air travel is still expected to rise from the approximately 700 million air travelers in 2007 to more than 1 billion annually during the next decade.

------

Associated Press writers Matthew Barakat in McLean, Va., Tim Klass in Seattle and Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed to this report.
 
#8 ·
United CEO supports O'Hare expansion, documents show some airlines oppose plans
20 November 2008

CHICAGO (AP) - United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton says the ongoing expansion at O'Hare International Airport has his company's "full support."

His comments Thursday at a Chicago celebration for a new $450 million O'Hare runway contradicted documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune.

The newspaper reported that American, United and several other airlines are calling the O'Hare plan flawed and are opposed to more spending on expansion. According to statements sent to city and federal authorities, the airlines call Chicago's effort to move ahead with the project "premature and inappropriate" because of the decline in air travel.

The O'Hare project includes replacing intersecting runways with a parallel runway system and new passenger terminals that the airlines are now calling "ill-conceived."
 
#9 · (Edited)
ORD | Chicago O'Hare Airport

Excerpt from the Chicago Tribune today...

Turbulent times
Dispute between airlines, city may ground O'Hare's expansion plans
1 2 next | single page A lawsuit filed last week by United and American airlines against the city may spell the end of a close alliance between Mayor Richard Daley and O'Hare's dominant carriers that has served both sides well. (Phil Velasquez/Tribune)

On a blue-sky day in September 2005, the federal government cleared the expansion of O'Hare International Airport, and a beaming Mayor Richard Daley compared the historic event to the city's rebirth after the Great Fire of 1871 and reversing the flow of the Chicago River.

"What a day! White Sox clinch the division, and we are at a groundbreaking today," Daley said, standing on the site of the first new runway as an earthmover scooped dirt.

O'Hare modernization was supposed to be the capstone to Daley's legacy. But that northern runway has been the only new airstrip completed in almost 40 years in Chicago.Barring a last-ditch deal between the airlines and the city, Daley likely will hand his successor litigation and acrimony that could stretch for years in place of new runways and passenger terminals that were envisioned to secure the airport's future and ease a bottleneck in the center of the nation's commercial air-traffic system.

Full story can be found here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-ohare-daley-0124-20110124,0,3183553.story
 
#10 ·
Lawsuit by airlines designed to slow expansion efforts at O'Hare Airport to move to trial
18 February 2011

CHICAGO (AP) - The lawsuit filed by United and American airlines against the city of Chicago over O'Hare International Airport expansion will move toward trial.

All sides on Thursday asked Cook County Circuit Judge Richard Billik to lift a one-week delay on hearing the lawsuit opposed to the issuing of bonds for the expansion. The bond sale for the $3.4 billion second phase was postponed after the lawsuit was filed.

The delay was requested to give city and airline officials time to resolve major differences over the financing and timing of new runways at O'Hare, which the airlines say won't be needed for years.

Mayor Richard Daley said Thursday talks will continue, but he criticized the airlines for allegedly reneging on their promise in 2001 to help see through the overhaul of O'Hare.
 
#11 · (Edited)
MDW/ORD | Chicago Area Airports

I found out that there is no thread for Chicago O' Hare so I decided to create one. Anyways Chicago O' Hare is a hub for American Airlines and United Airlines (which are based out of terminals three and one respectively) and also hosts the operations of some US airlines such as Delta, US Airways, Alaska Airlines,Jet Blue, Virgin America, and Spirit.





The final configuration once the O' Hare modernization program is complete.


 
#12 ·
Virgin America to start new services to Chicago O' Hare in May.

VIRGIN AMERICA BREEZES INTO CHICAGO O’HARE
New Airline Blows Some Fresh Competition into the Windy City – With Upscale Flights and Low Fares from $99*
Chicago-based Groupon Helps Launch the Airline with a Featured Deal on Virgin America’s New ORD Flights
http://www.virginamerica.com/press-release/2011/virgin-america-breezes-into-chicago-ohare.html

San Francisco – February 17, 2011 – Virgin America, the California-based airline that is reinventing domestic travel, today announces it will bring its low-fare, upscale service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), with daily nonstop flights from both Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) starting May 25, 2011. Known for its beautifully designed cabins and high-tech amenities, Virgin America has been winning over consumers and sweeping the major travel awards since its August 2007 launch – including capturing the “Best Domestic Airline” title in both Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards and Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards for the past three consecutive years. With legacy airlines representing 98 percent of domestic departures at ORD, Virgin America hopes to inject some healthy competition into the market.

“Until today, travelers flying from O’Hare to SFO or LAX had little choice and few low fare options. With unrivalled service and new planes that look like nothing else in the skies, we hope our flights will be a breath of fresh air for Chicago travelers,” said Virgin America President and Chief Executive Officer David Cush. “When more airlines compete, consumers tend to win – with lower fares and better service. Mayor Daley and the airport have shown tremendous vision by investing in ORD’s future and by helping to open up access to new competition.”

Virgin America originally announced its intent to serve ORD in 2008, but its plans were delayed due to gate availability. Through the leadership provided by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and ORD Airport Commissioner Rosemarie S. Andolino, the airline reached an agreement to occupy gate space at ORD’s now vacated Concourse L.
 
#15 ·
Cathay Pacific to start new direct flights to Hong Kong from ORD begining in September.

Cathay Pacific launches new services to Chicago and Abu Dhabi, boosts frequencies to New York and Toronto
http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_HK/aboutus/pressroomdetails?refID=c58bf7d1ee9bc210VgnVCM62000007d21c39____

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced that it will expand its already-extensive international network by adding two new routes in 2011 - a four-times-weekly service to Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), commencing 2 June, and a daily flight to Chicago in the United States, which launches on 1 September.

The Chicago service, which will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, will boost the airline’s presence in North America and provide passengers with increased connectivity between the Midwestern United States and Hong Kong and the rest of Asia. Given the demand for travel to other US cities via Chicago, Cathay Pacific intends to launch code-share services from its new gateway with oneworld alliance partner American Airlines and looks forward to announcing details in the near future.

The Abu Dhabi service will be operated by an Airbus A330-300 aircraft with departures to and from Hong Kong on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Cathay Pacific has been serving the United Arab Emirates market for more than 30 years and currently offers a double-daily operation to and from Dubai. With the addition of Abu Dhabi, the airline expects to see high demand for travel to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations through its second destination in the UAE.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler said: “We are extremely excited about being able to expand our network in 2011 with new services to Chicago and Abu Dhabi. We already have a significant presence in both the United States and the Middle East, and these new destinations will help to meet demand for both business and leisure travel to and from Hong Kong. The continued expansion of our network highlights our commitment to boosting our home city’s role as one of the world’s great international aviation hubs.”

With the launch of these two new services, Cathay Pacific will serve a total of 50 online passenger destinations.

In addition to launching new destinations, Cathay Pacific will also strengthen services to two key destinations in North America – New York and Toronto. The former will get three more flights a week from 27 March to 1 May 2011, making a total of 24 flights a week, and from 2 May will become a four-times-daily service. Toronto, meanwhile, will have two more flights a week added from 1 May, turning it into a double-daily service.

Full details of the schedules for the new destinations and service enhancements can be found below. All new flights will be open for sale on 9 December.
 
#18 ·
O'Hare's updates could help flights take off on time
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/04/OHares-updates-could-help-flights-take-off-on-time/45765558/1

CHICAGO – Ray Franz, a construction company manager, catches flights at O'Hare International Airport for business trips at least once a month because it's convenient to his home in Lake County, Ill. But he has a colleague who refuses to use the airport.

Franz, 45, understands why some people steer clear of O'Hare. The layout is cramped and the terminals are "starting to get dated," he says. Besides, he says, "The flow of people through security is just awful."

Still, Franz doesn't think flights into and out of O'Hare are delayed any more often than at other big airports. Most important, he says, "You can get anywhere from here — that's key."

Fifty-six years after O'Hare's first commercial flights, the city has reached a deal that allows it to continue an expansion plan that includes new runways, airfield improvements and a new terminal.The project is meant to ease congestion and reduce the delays that contribute to O'Hare's bad reputation among some of the 66.6 million passengers who use it each year.


The city, which operates the airport, "is positioning O'Hare to set the standards for the industry well into the future," says Chicago Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino.

The Federal Aviation Administration, she notes, estimates that when the last new runway is done in 2020, delays will be reduced by 64%.

The pressure for upgrades is mounting. As the economy rebounds, "The bogeyman of major congestion lurks on the horizon" without major runway improvements, says Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation professor at Chicago's DePaul University.

Completing the plan will cost $3.4 billion. Parts of the "modernization," including a new west terminal, are on hold temporarily, while $1.17 billion worth of work is underway.

The split timetable came after United and American airlines, which have hubs at O'Hare, sued earlier this year to stop the sale of $1 billion in bonds to finance the project. The airlines said demand didn't justify the expansion and accused the city of violating lease agreements giving them the authority to sign off on such projects.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Illinois congressman, helped broker a deal last month that ended the lawsuit and allowed the project to proceed: "This is a landmark achievement that will benefit air travelers throughout the entire nation."

Negotiations on the rest of the original plan will begin by March 2013.

"O'Hare has an obsolete design that can't be realistically updated in one grand stroke," Schwieterman says. "By taking it step by step, the city has retained a sense of momentum."

The project has created some negative headlines and feelings locally. After years of court battles, the city is now relocating 1,200 graves from St. Johannes Cemetery in Bensenville, Ill., to make room for a new runway.

About 400 residential and business buildings in Bensenville were demolished for the project. The community received a $16 million payment for dropping its opposition. Village President Frank Soto says millions of dollars were spent by his predecessor's administration fighting a battle it could only "delay, not win."

Bensenville hopes to capitalize on its proximity to O'Hare by developing industrial parks, condos, hotels and restaurants. Residents dislike flight paths over their homes, Soto says, "but we can appreciate the benefits" of having an airport next door.

A modern wonder

When President Kennedy dedicated O'Hare in March 1963, he called it "one of the wonders of the modern world."

What is now O'Hare International Airport was an aircraft manufacturing plant during World War II. It was made a public airfield when Midway Airport, which opened in 1928, became too crowded. It was named for naval aviator Edward "Butch" O'Hare, a World War II hero.

By 1962, after Midway's operations were transferred to O'Hare, 10 million passengers used the newer airport, making it the world's busiest. O'Hare was the world's third-busiest airport for passenger traffic in 2010, after airports in Atlanta and Beijing.

When it opened, O'Hare's location on the edge of the city was much less developed. Now, some of its problems mirror those that prompted the shift of flights from Midway decades ago: O'Hare is hemmed in by development and accessed by congested roads.

The Kennedy Expressway, completed in 1960, is the most direct route to O'Hare from the downtown loop. The 17-mile trip often takes more than an hour. Rail service from the city was extended to O'Hare in 1984.

Ending traffic jams on the airfield is one of the primary goals of the modernization project.

O'Hare now has seven runways, six of which intersect. A new air traffic control tower and runway opened in 2008, ending federally imposed caps on flights. When the project is done, O'Hare will have eight runways in a more efficient parallel configuration.

Altering the runway design to simplify "the most complex airfield geometry of any hub" is crucial, says Mary Rose Loney, an aviation consultant who served as Chicago's airport commissioner from 1996 to 2000. Some delays at O'Hare, especially during winter, can be blamed on the interlocking runways, she says.

Changing them, she says, will allow O'Hare to "accomplish efficiencies and capacity enhancements" like those at airports in Dallas, Orlando and Denver.

Getting out of O'Hare on time

"What do I dislike about O'Hare? Mostly, I worry about delays and canceled flights," says Melissa Larson, 33, a financial adviser who lives in Los Angeles and flies through O'Hare twice a month on business trips.

Odds against getting out of O'Hare on time are higher than at many other large U.S. airports.

In January, 73.9% of flights left O'Hare on time, putting it 21st on a Transportation Department report ranking 29 airports. Midway, Chicago's other airport, was in last place with 60%. In first place: Seattle-Tacoma International, where 85.1% of flights departed on time.

The factors that make O'Hare appealing to passengers — the capacity that allows it to schedule flights to many destinations — also contribute to its problems, says Stephen Van Beek of LeighFisher, a transportation management consulting firm.

"They have service to destinations that most airports can only pray for," he says. "But it is not a new facility, so it has challenges."

Van Beek says the top priority for airports seeking to improve on-time performance is to ensure that runways, gates, alleyways and parking positions on the airfield make it easier "to move an airplane through the airport." For a landlocked facility such as O'Hare, he says, that's not easy.

Because O'Hare is a major national hub, Andolino says, delays here can ripple across the country. Once capacity improves, she says, fewer delays "will be felt systemwide, though clearly the full benefits will not materialize until the entire runway configuration is implemented."

Avoiding O'Hare 'at all costs'

Frequent business traveler Mark Hartong, 52, an engineer for the federal government who lives in Fairfax, Va., likes some things about O'Hare: the quick train ride into the city, convenient transfers if his arrival and departure gates are in the same terminal, ample flight options.

His list of dislikes, though, is longer: inconvenient rental car facilities, traffic on the Kennedy Expressway, long hikes between terminals, bad restaurants, unpleasant restrooms, slow security lines, unreliable wireless connections and crowds everywhere.

Hartong senses that "there still seem to be more flights that are trying to arrive or depart at the same time than" O'Hare can handle. He tries to avoid it "at all costs," he says. If everything is going well, the airport "is simply purgatory. If things aren't going well," it's more like the opposite of heaven, he says.

Passenger reviews like those "matter a lot," Andolino says. Besides improving the airfield, she says, upgrades are planned for access and the quality, efficiency and appearance of amenities and terminal facilities. The goal, she says, is to "improve the passenger experience while in the airport."

Loney says the planned improvements should "strengthen O'Hare's reputation as a preeminent, reliable and dependable hub airport." Passengers who experience disappointing service from the time they leave home until their flight takes off, she says, tend to "paint a wide stroke of blame" they attribute generally to "the airport."

Bob McGuire, 49, a law enforcement trainer from Danbury, Conn., who travels often for work, says O'Hare isn't worse than other airports. "No matter where you fly through," he says, "there's always issues."

Still, many patrons say the makeover is overdue. The airport "hasn't been able to keep up with the times," says Jodi Gullaksen, 58, a retired airline employee from Lake Zurich, Ill. She hates fighting traffic to get to O'Hare, finds the terminals "too congested" and wishes there were more diversions such as shopping.

Bill Schaefer, 41, a systems analyst from New York, agrees. "I have a hard time sleeping when I know I have to fly through O'Hare the next day," the frequent business flier says. "It just feels like a place that should work better than it does."
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#23 ·
Suburbs still want western terminal at O'Hare
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110328/news/703289987/

By Marni Pyke

A western terminal and its promise as a cash cow driving economic growth helped convince suburbs around O'Hare to drop resistance to airport expansion and join Chicago in its quest for more runways.

But now with uncertainty about the western terminal's future — when and if it will be built at all — local leaders are adjusting expectations.

“I think it will happen but we have some big obstacles,” DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin said.

After months of feuding, the city with United and American Airlines announced a deal March 14 that ends a lawsuit by the carriers and allows for construction of a runway at O'Hare International Airport's southern end.

Absent from the pact is the western terminal, estimated to cost about $2 billion. The airlines and Chicago agreed to kick other outstanding issues down the road to 2013. United and American opposed the terminal, expected to be used by smaller rival airlines.

“The western terminal complex will only be developed as demand dictates,” Chicago Department of Aviation officials said in an e-mail Friday, adding that “only the users of this facility will be responsible for its costs.”

That puts the future of a western terminal in the hands of United and American's competitors. But with the shaky economy affecting air travel, it's questionable when or if willing investors will step up.

The vision for the airport's western side included extending the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway east from its terminus in Itasca into O'Hare along with a terminal. That was anticipated to trigger development with restaurants, shops and industry rivaling towns to the east like Rosemont.

The expressway project is inching forward as state planners search for funding. Chicago would build parking and provide transport — likely buses — to existing terminals once the expressway reaches O'Hare.

Bensenville Village President Frank Soto in 2009 negotiated a $16 million deal with Chicago ending years of lawsuits hampering airport expansion.

Two years later, Soto still thinks western access is an economic engine for the area. But “whether it's a four-cylinder or an eight-cylinder depends on whether it's a parking garage or a terminal. A terminal's the best option because it creates many more opportunities,” Soto said.

Cronin agreed, noting that the economic “promise will not be realized without the terminal,” he said. “If you're talking about a roadway and a hole in the fence with a parking lot, it's not my vision.”

Historically, DuPage suburbs along with Elk Grove Village fought O'Hare expansion, which involved taking a chunk out of northeast Bensenville. But in 2003, former DuPage Chairman Robert Schillerstrom convinced his board to change course despite opposition from longtime Bensenville Village President John Geils.

Schillerstrom and Geils are no longer in office and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley will be succeeded by Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel in May.

“I'm anxious to sit down with Mayor-elect Emanuel and have a frank discussion,” Cronin said.

“There's a certain amount of uncertainty because of the transition. My vision of western access must include the terminal and western access — there's no doubt about it.”

As to the possibility of the terminal dropping off the radar screen, Soto doesn't blame the city.

“It's not an issue the city of Chicago had control over,” he said. But, he'd rather see the terminal built first, before the runway.

The soft economy and high fuel prices will continue to dog the western terminal for now, aviation expert and DePaul University professor Joseph Schwieterman said.

“Skeptics forget that the expressway will likely bring much development to the communities west of O'Hare regardless of whether a new terminal is built,” he said.

“A new terminal, however, would immeasurably change things.”
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#25 ·
City poised to seek investors for Chicago-O'Hare high-speed rail line
Chicago Business by Crains, April 12, 2011
http://www.ordexpressrail.com/newspress/city-poised-to-seek-investors-for-chicago-o'hare-high-speed-rail-line,-chicago-business-by-crains,-april-12,-2011.aspx

(AP) — Chicago is moving a step closer to a high-speed rail line running from downtown to O'Hare International Airport.
The city's aviation commissioner, Rosemarie Andolino, says the city will be posting on its Web site this week a notice called a request for information to possible investors and manufacturers.

Retiring Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says such a system is necessary if Chicago is to remain a global city.

He says such a system would be an elevated line and that it would run along one of two routes that would not require the demolition of homes.

Daley says he would expect construction on such a system would begin within a few years, but it remains unclear how realistic the plans are, given the high cost of such systems.
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