![]() The runways to be extended are 9L/27R and 9R/27L (in future to be designated as 9R/27L and 10L/28R, respectively). The three runways to be decommissioned include 18/36, 14L/32R and 14R/32L. "A new air traffic control tower and additional navigational facilities will also be constructed."įour runways will be replaced by runways 9L/27R (opened in 2008), 9C/27C, 10C/28C (grading work proceeding) and 10R/28L. The realignment will involve the construction of new runways, closure of others and also runway extensions. The plan involves the reconfiguration of the runway system so that it is similar to the layout at Fort Worth, Texas. The future airfield will be able to accommodate approximately 1.6 million aircraft operations and 76 million enplanements a year. The realignment and modernisation programme could make a great deal of difference to the efficiency of the airport. The airport has 178 gates on eight connected concourses and one freestanding terminal. With the American and United hubs, 60% of O’Hare’s passengers make connections there. In 2004 the airport played host to 69.5 million arriving, departing and connecting passengers and had nearly 929,000 total aircraft operations, an average of one landing or take-off every 56 seconds. Supporters of the expansion plan say delays could be cut by 79% and that 195,000 jobs and $18bn would be put into the local economy. two planes having a near miss on the ground) occurred in August 2006 and this has galvanised support for the expansion. The winning lobby was the revamp and expansion as the Illinois General Assembly has passed the O’Hare Modernisation Act (August 2003 signed into law), which approves the City of Chicago’s O’Hare expansion programme.Īll of the contractors were in place by the end of 2005 and the final land acquisitions are still under negotiation the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was obtained in August 2005 (the FAA wanted the expansion work carried out in a different order, the priority being the construction of the Lima Lima taxiway to service the 10/28 centre runway to increase safety standards). Add snowfall and rainstorms to the experience, and you get the very definition of misery.The other lobby insisted that the problems can be solved at O’Hare and that the airport needs a major revamp and expansion programme, which would involve seven new runways and a new terminal. Instead, travelers - families with children and suitcases in tow, businesspeople rushing to make flights - agonize in economy lot shelters while they watch a shuttle bus on the far side of the lot, creep along aisle by aisle. Officially known as the Airport Transit System, the train that connects economy parking lots to terminals was supposed to be all but done by a Dec. Then there’s the “People Mover” that hasn’t moved any people at all since January 2019, and hasn’t moved passengers on weekdays since the spring of 2018. It’s now a whopping $42 a day to park even in the cheaper sections of the main garage. None of these problems have stopped parking rates from increasing again. Aesthetic? Sure, if you fancy stained carpets and drab decor. Bathrooms? Claustrophobic and grungy - it’s a roll of the dice whether you get a stall door latch that works. A few nudges here, some shoulder bumps there. Navigating the airport’s concourses has always been not unlike a roller derby. Seasoned travelers have been putting up with O’Hare’s cramped, inefficient terminals for years. O’Hare’s dismal performance is linked mostly to passengers’ dissatisfaction with their experience at the airport’s terminals, J.D. Even Newark Liberty International Airport ranked higher. Power, which annually rankspassenger satisfaction at North American airports, put O’Hare at the bottom of the list. It means one of the tell-tale signs of extraction from the pandemic - back-to-normal air travel - has been picking up pace.Īlas, we’ll have to temper that feel-good moment with a cold dose of bad news. That’s a marked jump from the 2 millionwho did so in July 2020. In July, nearly 6 million people flew through O’Hare. If you’ve wended your way through O’Hare International Airport lately, you probably have noticed longer lines at security checkpoints and the Gold Coast Dogs cashier, more and more people crowding into concourses and shuttle buses beginning to fill up.
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