monksy

Yes, this isn't just on United. However, it's the home of UA. The restaurants in Terminal 5 at ORD have been closing ridiciously early. I saw this last November, and I saw it last month.

Tortas Fronteras closes before 7:30. Tucco closes at 8pm, most other places close by/before 7:30. The entire food court was closed and dark. Hub51 closes their dining at 6pm. With a lot of traffic and banking flights between 8-11pm, this is crazy.

I was looking at the hours+listing. Those hours are not correct: https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/eat...s/default.aspx

HNLbasedFlyer

Likely staffing issues - a couple of places on the way to the UA gates at HNL have signs they are closed due to staffing.

angetenar

Do any UA flights depart from T5? I thought all UA departed from T1/2 and UA only used T5 for international arrivals.

Lux Flyer

No UA flight departs from T5 and so this thread is probably better off in one of the forums for airlines that do operate out of T5 or in a more general airport discussion forum. But OP is attributing this to being a UA problem since ORD is "home of UA". Though the same could be said about AA.

UA (and AA) have little interest in the restaurant situation in T5, as their passengers never interact with them since the only time a UA passenger is in T5 is an international arrival which doesn't have access to the restaurants in the departure area.

I suspect the situation will improve when DL moves over in a couple months as there will be a more consistent passenger volume that would support keeping these restaurants making sure they have staff and are open (and DL would probably make some noise making sure there are facilities open to service their passengers with their flight schedule)

Andrea Waters

Although the OP mentioned T5, I'm nearly positive that he means T1. I fly evening flights at O'Hare every single week and I have been met with an unpleasant surprise when I try to eat dinner after 8:00 p.m. Tortas Frontera is almost always closed by 7:45. The only restaurants that are open after 8:00 p.m. are McDonald's and Tuscany. No shops, even Hudson News, are open after 8.

Lux Flyer

You may be nearly positive they mean T1, but I'm 100% positive they mean T5, because some of the restaurants they specifically mentioned only exist in T5. But again, these issues aren't unique to T5 or even ORD, so it's no surprise that some of the same things are popping up in T1 and leading to confusion. Could probably pick half the airports in the US and be able to say the same thing - MSP comes to mind. PHX used to, but has gotten better last time I flew through there.

Andrea Waters

You are absolutely right. I just saw that. In that case, let's just all agree that ORD is a giant mess right now. 🤣

monksy

I meant T5 since I haven't been doing very little domestic flights out of ohare since the pandemic started. However, I do feel like I have had to go to the chilis due to the other places being closed in T1. T5 still applies to united due to the S* partner connections.

This was in the UA channel as that I didn't know where specific airport conversations went. Still seems super weird to have it in a region thread.

ords

No rush for folks to come back to work and concessions staffing has taken a massive hit. It's an issue throughout the US, so not sure what's being or can be done. For instance, Burger King at T5 starts pay at $20 per hour and they're still not able to fill positions.

GUWonder

Do you have a sense of how long the typical commute is for many of the current workers in such positions? Retention may be a problem as well.

Losing c. $40 more of pay daily due to commute doesn’t make an airport job attractive at $20/hour given the likes of a Starbucks or Target elsewhere may pay in that range and be more convenient. Even if the cost to drive to and park at the airport was lower or as low as the CTA, time is money for those who get paid by the clock.

I’ve been hanging out at T1-T3 airside to eat because T5 food selection remains poor. How I miss Bao.

I was hoping that there being more domestic flights out of T5 would mean more food options open there before my evening flights to Europe, but I’m still left hoping for more.

ords

Bao is open, I just don't the hours they operate. We're adding Chick - Fil - A, Fogo de chao, Sparrow coffee, Bar Siena, The Hampton Social, Butcher and the Burger, FarmAir's Market.