A long hot summer of flight delays faces Chicago's O'Hare International Airport if federal aviation officials and pilots cannot work out a plan governing takeoffs and landings at intersecting runways.

The Federal Aviation Administration has set a May 27 deadline for its new rules to take effect. But pilots unions say they have not had enough time to study the changes and make sure they are safe.

If the deadline passes without an agreement, the pilots will have to stop "land and hold short" operations that have allowed for faster takeoffs and landings at the airport.

"It's going to be a huge headache," said Craig Burzych, an O'Hare representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "It's going to cause delays- a lot of upset pax, a lot of late pax."

Add to that the UA pilots work slow-down which hit it's stride yesterday. The fun is just begining.

The problem is that pilots *have* stopped the "land and hold short" practice in some cases.

What this is, and is used on commuter planes sometimes, is the pilot is told it can land on runway xx and is requested to stop short of the intersecting runway, so that a simultaneous operation can be performed on the intersecting runway. This is no problem for prop commuter planes, but with jet commuter planes (ERJ's and CRJ's for example), the pilots are refusing the "land and stop short" requests because they need more runway to land and don't feel safe accepting those requests.

Note it is up to the pilot to accept or refuse these "land and stop short" requests.

I'm not sure what they're negotiating exactly ... trying to change the pilots minds all of a sudden that it is safe when they don't think it is ...

Of course the labor problems with UAL will help this situation if they keep cancelling flights

Beckles,isn't it funny that they refuse to do a land and stop with 8000 feet of real estate yet they can land at Burbank,LGA,or WAS with no problem? An aircraft is usually slowed and off the runway after a mile.

I sometimes find it hard to take the ALPHA union seriously.

I'm not sure the distance between the end of the runway and the intersection at ORD. considering that the three airports you mention (BUR, LGA, and DCA) I can recall airplanes running off the end of all three runways in my (short) lifetime, I can certainly see the pilots' point. It's one thing when the plane runs off the end of the runway ... if they ran into another plane ... well, the picture would not be pretty.

It's not just Holding Short ... If the pilot instructed to hold short needs to go around, he has to violate the hold short order and the other airplane's airspace to do it.

Reality is that LAHSO has been a hotly contested topic since it was first introduced. Pilot unions accept the need for the practice, but have agressively fought some aspects of it.

A year later...

"A new federal study that for the first time examines the capacity of the nation's busiest airports and the reasons behind the record delays concludes that O'Hare International Airport is overextended and the situation will only grow worse during the next decade.

The report, to be released Wednesday on Capitol Hill, says that even in good weather, the airport operates above capacity for 3� hours a day, but when weather conditions deteriorate, traffic exceeds capacity for 8 hours.

And despite assurances from Chicago officials that O'Hare doesn't require new runways to handle air travel demands during the next 10 years, the Federal Aviation Administration analysis concludes the situation will only deteriorate as the number of flights grows..."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/m...-51405,FF.html

Airlines hope to avoid another summer of travel headaches
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...508EDT0636.DTL

The coming travel season shows every sign of being as bad, if not worse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/15/tr...earchpv=site02

"The nation's aviation system is going 'bananas' according to Jerry Roper, President and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce who was to testify to U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation in a hearing today.
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2001/05/990732619.html

Politics Hinder Chicago O'Hare Airport Expansion
http://www.iwon.com/home/news/news_article/0,11746,130169|top|05-26-2001::14:23 |reuters,00.html

Smoother Summer for Air Travel Expected
http://www.latimes.com/business/2001...000044656.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 05-28-2001).]

Restoring O'Hare as a Premier Transportation Hub That Delivers the Levels Of Service That Consumers Demand Requires New Runways
United Outlines a Five-Point Framework for Capacity Improvements at O'Hare International Airport

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010615/cgf029.html

City Hall is preparing to launch a plan to spend roughly $1.5 billion to build two new runways at O'Hare International Airport. It's the initial move in a summer-long political dance that should determine whether peace can be negotiated locally to end the region's airport capacity war, or a solution will be dictated by federal officials.

The plan, which requires a final signoff by Mayor Richard Daley before it's submitted to the state by a July 1 deadline, also would clear the way for access to O'Hare from the west, sources familiar with the report say.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-b...id=16621&arc=n

The Chicago City Council's Finance Committee recommended the approval on Monday of two airport bond deals totaling up to $450 million.

The committee passed an up to $400 million Midway Airport revenue bond deal to finance a new parking garage, noise mitigation, and terminal and airfield improvements, according to Brian King, the city's deputy comptroller.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010625/n25252811.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 06-25-2001).]

Mayor Richard Daley announced an ambitious expansion plan for O'Hare International Airport on Friday that would add one runway and rebuild three others -- an attempt to ease an air traffic crunch in Chicago that has meant long delays for travelers from coast to coast.

Daley said the $6 billion plan would reduce overall delays by 79 percent while nearly doubling the number of flights O'Hare could handle each year to 1.6 million. The airport now handles slightly more than 900,000 flights a year.

The Democratic mayor had promised to present an O'Hare plan to Gov. George Ryan by Sunday. Ryan, a Republican who has veto power over new runways in the state, has said he opposes O'Hare expansion and favors a new airport 40 miles south of the city in Peotone.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/nati...Expansion.html

The Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago, comprising 70 senior corporate and business leaders in the Chicago region, responded to Mayor Daley's "Proposal for the Future of O'Hare" with enthusiastic support.

"We have been working for expansion of runway capacity at O'Hare for well over a decade," said Lester Crown, Chair of the Committee's Aviation Task Force.

"O'Hare is the economic engine of the region. The Mayor's plan will position Chicago as the national and international aviation center of North America. It will add enormous value to the region, as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs. And it will reduce the delays that are so costly to our businesses and frustrating to air travelers."

http://news.airwise.com/stories/2001/06/993891590.html