If the negotiations conclude as hoped, it eliminates the T3 <—-> T-5 trek. Let us hope ORD becomes the third Airport to offer ITI baggage through-checking (as currently offered in DFW, MIA) so AA, AY, BA, CX, IB, QR and other interline partners could offer ITI from Asia, Europe or Middle East onward to S. America, etc. (Even better would be airside flight connections separate from immigration, but that almost seems too much to hope, like AA declining to through check on separate ticketing.)
Airport construction being what it is, 2030?
United and American, for example, would be located in the Global Terminal with major international partners Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways, British Airways and Japan Airlines. Some “spoke” carriers like Delta, for example, would relocate to what’s now international Terminal 5, where customers easily could connect to KLM, Air France, Korean Air and Aeromexico.
“The non-hub airlines get their own space in Terminal 5, their own entrance, their own hotel, more club room, more paid space, they will be closer to the city. They love that,” said a source familiar with the negotiations who was not authorized to speak about them publicly. “And American and United essentially get a better internationally connecting complex, because to send passengers over to or from Terminal 5 is a pain in the .... Nobody likes that.