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

CHICAGO, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) today issued the following statement on addressing the capacity issues and ensuing service delays that are the topic of today's U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Field Hearing, being held in Chicago:

"We are pleased that service delays at O'Hare and their effects throughout the nation's aviation system are at the top of the local, federal and national agenda. We believe there is only one viable solution to delivering the long-term improvements in capacity needed to restore O'Hare as a premier transportation hub. That solution is new runways at O'Hare and other key airports around the country.

O'Hare is the critical economic engine for the city, state, and regional economy. It contributes between $27 billion and $34 billion to the regional economy and provides 365,000-455,000 jobs with a payroll of between $8.4 billion and $10.6 billion annually.

That economic engine has stalled as the Midwest continues to grow other hubs. O'Hare's lack of growth stands to drain nearly $10 billion annually from the economy. O'Hare's lack of growth has led to a consumer crisis of escalating service delays. United has invested nearly $350 million this year to improve our reliability, but we know that customer frustration will remain high until new runways are built to introduce much-needed capacity into the system. We believe a successful plan to restore O'Hare must deliver on the following:

1. Relive congestion and delays

2. More service to small communities

3. More international nonstop destinations

4. More frequency to popular destinations

5. Restore Chicago as the premier transportation hub

The only way to deliver on these five core goals is to craft a comprehensive capacity plan for O'Hare that delivers new runways."

--------------------------------------------

It's just a matter of time before the runways come, nimby's are losing.

A message for all nimby's and complaining suburbs...

Gripers Should Move If Chicago Area Is So Terrible
Reprinted from Herald News
by Paul Steinhauer

Do you people complaining about railroad crossing delays, and various annoyances regarding O'Hare Airport realize that you can move to almost anywhere in the United States and reduce, even eliminate, these irritations in your life?

Didn't you ever learn, "life is about choices"? Live someplace like Peotone, if you want clean air, quiet, few trains, and no planes. Live in Chicagoland if you want more job opportunities, with larger pay checks; because Chicagoland is home to lots of huge factories that require a lot of freight service and huge offices that require a lot of passenger transportation. Don't expect your millions of neighbors to give up their chosen life style, careers and incomes because you do not like certain aspects of urban life. Most of your neighbors know the pollution and the jobs are intertwined.

Those of you closest to O'Hare may be able to elect a handful of legislators that support your cause. But the majority of legislators will continue to vote for enlarging O'Hare because they represent the millions more people who live further away from O'Hare but whose lifestyle depends on the economic benefits that require a large airport like O'Hare.

If you get satisfaction out of complaining, fine. But if you truly want to live with cleaner air in the very near future, move!

Since I moved to DesPlaines in 1953, more homes have been built near O'Hare. Housing demand has continued to grow, even with and in many cases, because of O'Hare.

You should have no problem selling your home to someone who is willing to endure the problems of urban living in order to also enjoy the benefits. You can probably buy a comparable home in a smaller community and have money left over. The cost of living is lower in most of the small towns that offer the absence of trains, quiet and/or clean air you want, because the economy there does not offer as many jobs, or as high salaries. If you stay, taking personal action to better your environment will accomplish more than expecting others to do something while you simply complain.

Buy less stuff. Those trains that keep you waiting at grade crossings are the result of people measuring the quality of life in how much "stuff" they own. Where people buy less stuff, there are fewer trains hauling stuff. Drive less. Our sidewalks, bike racks, and buses are underused. It is obvious that the majority of people complaining about O'Hare air pollution never leave home without a car. Air pollution is something each person chooses to create each time (s)he starts an engine. Some trips by car are necessary. But most people get into a car out of habit, without ever thinking if this trip could be accomplished by walking, bicycling or riding a bus. Buy less-polluting cars. How many people who complain about O'Hare air pollution have a bigger car with a bigger engine than they need?

Instead of telling legislators "no more flights" at O'Hare, we should tell them we want more tax dollars to go to research today, and schooling for future researchers. More fuel efficient engines and cleaner fuels for planes (and cars) may mean cleaner air in the future, without putting brakes on the Chicagoland economy that attract so many people to the O'Hare area.

I must've missed this thread first time around but this is a subject near & dear to me. I also currently (and will still when I move to a nearby 'burb) live near ORD and get sick of the vocal whiners in the 'burbs who complain about the noise. ORD is very much an economic engine for the region and responsible for many suburbs even being on the map (prime example, Rosemont). I'm hoping that only the threat of stripping the governor of veto power over runways will get the city & state working together (and it seems to be happening so far). The delays & congestion at ORD cause a ripple effect throughout the country which is why I can see Congress getting involved. However, even if new/reconfigured runways were approved tomorrow, they wouldn't be done for about 10 years (optimisticly) so Gary should be expanded as well. The main reason Chicago gives airport tax dollars to Gary is that Daley, very cleverly, was able to preempt a state takeover (attempted by the former governor) of ORD & MDW by forming a regional alliance with Gary. Of course, Illinois wants to build the 3rd airport in Peotone because heaven forbid Indiana get any of that money, who cares that the residents of Peotone don't want it & it would use up valuable farmland. The only people who seem to want Peotone are the Congressmen for that area & the downstate politicians who see nothing but dollar signs. I think Daley is trying to keep Gary growth in check though so it doesn't siphon off too much business from MDW. Ah, the joys of Illinois politics!

------------------
Regards,
- Anna

Mayor Daley will turn in his proposal to governer Ryan July 1st. I know for sure that he'll ask for 2 new runways and more terminal space.

I hope to see this soon within 15-20 years, it is the best for Chicago.

O'Hare - A superhub with connections to every medium-major city in north america, and with longer range aircraft, non-stop service to every major business center in the world. Also, a hub for the Star and One World Alliances.

Midway - A hub for ATA, Southwest, and everything else it is now.

Gary - Chicago's Newark, it will hopefully someday be as big as EWR, and possibly a cargo hub. And more important, if built successfully, it will help the economically depressed city of Gary and the south side of Chicago.

Mitchell International, Milwaukee - Possibly be the 4th airport for Chicago.

Peotone - Hopefully it'll continue to be a productive corn and soybean field.

Everyone agree?

Somehow I missed it too. After living 3 years in w. Arlington Hts, where literally the only airplanes noticed were the 747s leaving mid-day for Asia, 'tis a shame that ORD is being held up.

Slightly off topic, but there is an interesting museum in Union, IL (IL Railway Museum) that has a car from the North Shore Line. In the late 40s/early 50s, they offered interurban service from the Loop to downtown MKE in 55 minutes. I daresay you couldn't get between the two that fast now. (trains circled the Loop, then went up over what is now the Skokie Swift trackage, then straight north).

Chicago is fortunate that there is still sufficient population density to make rail appropriate. Interesting to see the post on the train between ORD and MDW--that would be an interesting option--expensive to build but very efficient.

I'd just be concerned that this would get us Regional Jet he**, with every town for an hours' flight angling to have flights to both airports, instead of a single flight in a, say 7x7, to MDW. I can just see STL (also MCI, DTW, MSP, IND,...) with "Now boarding AA Eagle xxx to ORD" "Now boarding AA Eagle yyy to MDW" "Now boarding UA Express AAA to ORD" "Now boarding UA Express ZZZ to MDW"

Now 500 miles for the connection, now we're talking

jl

For some reason I'm being the doc of this post, haha oh well..

Senate panel wants deal on Chicago airport delays


CHICAGO (Reuters) - A panel of U.S. senators on Friday gave Chicago and Illinois officials until September 1 to reach a consensus on addressing congestion problems at O'Hare International Airport or face possible federal intervention.

Delays at the nation's busiest airport and their impact on air travel across the country were the focus of a hearing in Chicago by the Senate Commerce Committee.

U.S. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, who chaired the hearing, warned that a failure to deal with gridlock at the airport could force the federal government to get involved.

"The only thing that is not an option is inaction on the part of state and local officials," he said, pointing out he was not advocating any one possible solution. Suggested remedies include adding runways at O'Hare, building a third airport in the Chicago region and expanding outlying airports.

Thomas Walker, Chicago's aviation commissioner, and Linda Wheeler, a director at the Illinois Department of Transportation, told the senators they believed a consensus could be reached by September 1, a date set by two U.S. Senate Democrats, Richard Durbin of Illinois and John D. Rockefeller of West Virginia, who attended the hearing.

Chicago aviation officials were readying conceptional runway plans to present to Illinois Governor George Ryan by July 1, Walker said. While McCain said the cost adding runways was a "very major aspect," Walker said no estimates would be available until the plan was completed.

Meanwhile, Wheeler said Illinois was pressing ahead to use $75 million of appropriated state funds to start buying land for a $600 million so-called starter airport to be built in Peotone, Illinois, a town about 35 miles south of Chicago.

Ryan and his fellow Republican predecessors in the governor's office have opposed new runways at O'Hare, while Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the heads of major airlines have rejected the idea of building an airport in Peotone. Various testimony at the hearing blamed politics and airlines' quest to maintain high fares at O'Hare as among the reasons for the impasse.

Durbin said after the hearing that federal pressure, including a bill to strip the Illinois governor of his veto power over runways, would lessen if the state and city reach agreement by September 1.

I do sympathise. This is exactly the problem we have at both Heathrow and Gatwick. The situation at heathrow is dire, but Gatwick is one of the busier internatinal airports in the world, and it has one runway only.

Unfortunately the NIMBYs have the sway here, and nothing will ever get done. I hope that you have more luck, you people seem far more gumptious than we.

O'Hare now in Daley's court:
Mayor set to pick among proposals for expansion

By Jon Hilkevitch, Tribune transportation reporter. Tribune staff reporter Gary Washburn contributed to this report.

June 24, 2001
A menu of final choices for adding capacity at O'Hare International Airport awaits Mayor Richard Daley's return to Chicago this week as a July 1 deadline looms for the city to submit a runway proposal to Gov. George Ryan.

The alternatives include building one or two new runways and realigning several others, according to the plan developed by the city's consultant. Depending on which options are selected by Daley, the total cost of the O'Hare modernization could hit $8 billion, the airport planners acknowledged.

The price tag includes acquiring the land occupied by some homes and businesses in Des Plaines and Bensenville, with estimates ranging from 10 to more than 500 homes, as well as relocating railroad tracks and other infrastructure outside O'Hare's current boundaries.

Airport officials also are being asked to consider scaling back the previously announced O'Hare World Gateway expansion project to one new airline terminal, rather than two, until talks begin with the state about building a badly needed western-access road into O'Hare.

The consulting firm, Landrum & Brown, is suggesting that the city consider adding a new terminal concourse on the west side of the airfield to accommodate passengers arriving on a new western road rather than proceeding with the original plan to build two terminals east of the current passenger complex.

The possibility of building a second entry road to O'Hare, by extending the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway into the west side of the airport, also represents the political "compromise" that Chicago might consider offering to state Republicans and the heavily GOP suburbs affected the most by airplane noise, the consultant's report suggests.

Flight delays frequently exceed an hour at O'Hare during poor weather because some intersecting runways must be closed as a safety precaution. Delays would average a more acceptable 10 to 12 minutes during stormy weather if two new parallel runways were built, the Landrum & Brown report said. A new "quad-runway" layout of four parallel runways would allow for simultaneous takeoffs and landings even in low visibility.

But even under the most ambitious runway scenario being considered, O'Hare's capacity would increase only modestly. Landrum & Brown estimates capacity would rise to between 1.1 million and 1.25 million takeoffs and landings a year, up from the current annual capacity of 885,000 to 933,000 flights. O'Hare handled almost 909,000 flights last year amid record delays and cancellations.

Such limited gains in annual flights could fuel the state's position that a new airport should be built near Peotone to meet future needs. The state long has maintained that even if two new runways were built at O'Hare--an expansion the governor opposes--the airport would again be congested shortly after those runways opened.

The Federal Aviation Administration forecasts 1.15 million flights a year by 2015 at O'Hare.


Official hopeful over plans

The level of detail contained in the Landrum & Brown proposals goes far beyond the "conceptual plan" that Daley promised to submit to Ryan for review to try to resolve the nearly 20-year-old stalemate over how to increase airport capacity in the region.

"It's a heck of a lot more than a concept," one city aviation official said. "There will be enough definition and flexibility so that we can cut a deal and the details will be worked out."

Daley is expected to make a final review of the runway options and present his plan on Thursday or Friday to Ryan, who has veto power over new runways at O'Hare, said a city official who didn't want to be identified.

The mayor, who vacationed in Europe last week, is scheduled to attend a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Detroit Monday and Tuesday before arriving home.

"No decision has been made," said Jacquelyn Heard, Daley's press secretary. "We do plan to meet the July 1 deadline. Until then, we view any plans or options being discussed as purely speculative."

But another city official said the mayor was briefed before he left the country "and probably picked his preferred plan back then."

Landrum & Brown submitted its proposals to the city June 5. Revisions were requested, and the plan was sent back to City Hall before Daley's trip, the official said.

The proposed airfield expansion is estimated to cost $700 million to $1 billion if one east-west runway is built near the north border of the airport. The price jumps to between $3.9 billion and $4.9 billion if another east-west runway also is built, on the south side of O'Hare, and several runways are lengthened, moved or closed, the consultant's report said.


Cuts in terminal plan studied

The runway plan is separate from Daley's controversial World Gateway construction project, which would prepare for the projected growth in international flights to the U.S. by building two new terminals and 20 to 25 gates at O'Hare, at a cost of $3.8 billion. Under the two-runway scenario, World Gateway could be downsized to one new terminal until the western-access issue is resolved, cutting the project's cost to about $3 billion.

"These are round numbers, but the total project, including World Gateway, could get up into the $6 billion to $8 billion range quickly," one official said.

One aviation expert who was briefed on the plan said, "The whole point of this package is to keep it simple. From the cost perspective and the ease of doing the development, the north runway is the winner. But one runway has limited value in terms of boosting capacity."

If one east-west runway were built on the north side of O'Hare, the city would need to buy about 100 acres of land in Des Plaines, including 10 homes and 32 industrial or commercial buildings, the report said.

But if the runway were built on O'Hare's southern flank, 400 acres--including 500 homes and more than 80 industrial and commercial buildings--would be razed, the consultant's report said.

The "quad-runway" plan calls for both runways to be built.

Facing the threat of federal intervention if a local solution to easing the record flight delays at O'Hare is not reached by Sept. 1, Daley and Ryan are under intense pressure to cut a deal.

Peotone hinges on funding

Ryan has said a "starter" airport at Peotone could be in operation within five years, and the state has begun buying land for the airfield in eastern Will County. But lacking the support of the airlines and Chicago's politically powerful mayor, Ryan has said construction will not begin without at least one carrier under contract and a financing plan to pay for the airport.

Republican lawmakers close to the governor said Ryan is considering asking Daley and the two biggest airlines, United and American, to drop their strong opposition to Peotone.

In addition to extending the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway into O'Hare, Landrum & Brown recommended that the city initiate discussions with suburban mayors on building a western bypass road for non-airport traffic.

The bypass, which would tie into the Tri-State Tollway (Interstate Highway 294) and the Northwest Tollway (Interstate Highway 90), is desperately needed to provide relief from airport-related traffic congestion to drivers in the northwest and western suburbs who are not headed to O'Hare.

U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), a Peotone supporter whose district covers the far western suburbs, repeatedly has urged Ryan to insist on both the western-access and bypass roads as one of the conditions for expanding O'Hare runways when Ryan and Daley meet to negotiate the future of the region's airports.

Chicago mayor to seek one new O'Hare runway--report

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Richard Daley will propose building just one new runway to relieve congestion at O'Hare International Airport, not two as has been speculated, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

The Tribune, citing sources at City Hall and in the aviation industry, said Daley will meet a July 1 deadline for a plan set by congressional leaders by proposing adding just one runway along O'Hare's northern border, which would require demolition of fewer homes and businesses than a second new runway along its southern edge.

Additional runways at O'Hare, the nation's second-busiest after Atlanta's Hartsfield, could be proposed at some future date under Daley's proposal, the newspaper reported.

"It's still all speculation -- we'll find out tomorrow (Friday)," city aviation spokeswoman Monique Bond told Reuters. "First we want to present the plan to the governor to meet the July 1 deadline."

Bond said Daley, a Democrat, will first present the plan to Republican Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who will have final say on the project likely to cost in excess of $1 billion. Daley and Ryan have clashed on Ryan's support for building a third Chicago-area airport in Peotone, Illinois.

But the two have bowed to pressure from Illinois' two U.S. Senators, Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Peter Fitzgerald, and influential Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, to get moving on an O'Hare expansion plan by July 1 or face federal intervention.

Major airlines that use O'Hare as a hub, including UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines , have advocated new runways to relieve congestion at the delay-prone airport and also sought ways to accommodate more flights.

According to the Tribune, Daley's proposal will also include another access road into O'Hare from the west to ease traffic congestion and appease opponents. The road has long been sought by suburban leaders, some of whom have been among the fiercest opponents of runway expansion because of the noise and pollution that additional flights would bring.

-----------------------------
Gosh I dont know what he's trying to pull, but ORD needs both runways quickly, now. I wish he'd just go for full blown expansion as soon as possible, but of course he's a political mastermind and might have something up his sleeve.

Daley proposes $6 billion O'Hare plan

By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
June 29, 2001

Mayor Richard M. Daley today unveiled a $6 billion plan calling for a massive makeover of O'Hare International Airport, adding one new runway, a new terminal and new roadway access to the airport from the west.

The proposal, which Daley conceded will face a court challenge even if Gov. George Ryan approves it, would require acquiring 141 acres of property in Des Plaines and another 292 acres in Bensenville -- displacing more than 300 homes, 240 apartment units and 70 businesses.

Three existing runways would be relocated. One of those is now seldom used, but would become a major player in the reconfigured airfield.

The $6 billion bill would be footed not by taxpayers, but by airlines, passenger ticket taxes and federal grants, Daley said.

In the end, O'Hare could handle 1.6 million flights a year, up from roughly 900,000 now, said John Harris, the city's first deputy aviation commissioner. He said the new capacity would let O'Hare accommodate demand projected "well beyond 2030."

Delays in bad weather, when O'Hare's problems are at their worst, would be reduced by 95 percent, officials said.

But relief would not be speedy. Even under optimistic projections, the new runway would take five to seven years to complete, officials said.

"Unless we make the investments proposed, the problems of delays and congestion will undermine the ability of O'Hare to compete both nationally and around the world," Daley said.

"And unless we make these investments, the long-term economic vitality and viability of O'Hare and the hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of businesses in the city and the suburbs and collar counties that depend on it will be at stake," he said.

Daley also called for constructing a highway bypass on the west side of the airport, connecting the Northwest and Tri-State Tollways and tying into a proposed eastward extension of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway.

The mayor discussed the prospect of extending the CTA Blue Line to Schaumburg; building a new rail line connecting O'Hare and Midway Airports; and improving the CTA's Blue and Orange Lines to accommodate express trains to both airports.

The costs of the transit improvements were not included in the $6 billion figure disclosed today.

Daley's announcement followed a last-minute campaign by officials of O'Hare's two largest airlines, United and American, to add two new runways to the airport.

The first legal salvo against Daley's plan could come from the Suburban O'Hare Commission, which represents 11 suburbs and the DuPage County Board. The commission sued in 1995 over a proposal to build two new terminals. The commission lost that fight, but it is appealing.

Joseph Karaganis, the commission's lawyer, said Thursday that no legal action would be considered until the governor responds to Daley's plan.

Daley, who until this year had maintained that O'Hare's capacity would be adequate until 2012, agreed in May to submit a runway-expansion plan to Ryan by July 1.

Daley and Ryan face a Sept. 1 deadline to reach a consensus on increasing airport capacity in the region or risk federal intervention, which would effectively mandate new runways at O'Hare without state or local input.

Ryan -- who previously has maintained that O'Hare cannot grow enough, even with several more runways, and who has maintained the region needs another airport -- responded cautiously to the today's announcement.

"I've been accused of blocking runways at O'Hare, but I've never seen a plan for runways. This will be the first," Ryan said. "I think it would be unfair of me if I didn't look at the proposal, share it with the right people, and talk about it and look at it and discuss it and try and keep an open mind on it."

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who proposed a July 1 deadline for an O'Hare plan from the city, reacted quickly and favorably to Daley's announcement.

In statement issued by his office, Durbin commended the mayor "for advancing a comprehensive plan that addresses not only congestion in the skies, but congestion on the roads and highways around O'Hare."

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Durbin pledged to "do everything I can to move this process forward."

Chitown, this is an example of Daley being a realist & dealmaker. He has a much better chance of getting approval for 1 runway now that doesn't have to eat up as much suburban land as 2 would. It could also help get Gov. Ryan off the hook a bit if he approves it especially since he doesn't want to lose veto power on runways to Congress. Daley also is offering the western 'burbs what they've wanted for some time, better access to ORD and easing of traffic (Coincidence that Speaker Hastert represents the western 'burbs? Could this by any chance help w/ Federal funding of the project? ). Besides, with reconfiguration of the current runways, 1 new one may be all that's needed. You are right about one thing, though, Daley is a political genius which is one of the reasons he's doing such a great job as mayor. I'll miss getting to vote for him when I move into the 'burbs.

------------------
Regards,
- Anna

Mayor Daley is awesome! Read today's Tribune, he's going for full blown expansion.. 4 new runways (lol he's trying to say it's only 1 new one, but it's really 4). A new access highway from the west, and a new terminal increasing the total number of gates well over 230. If this goes through, ORD will be a completely new airport. I just hope construction doesn't take over a decade. Poor nimby's!

Glad to see that this thread (to which I was an early poster) has a new life. Chicago has always been the "midway" transportation point of our nation. I changed trains there (both railroads: Pennsy to Santa Fe, and stations: Union to LaSalle Street) on my first transcontinental train trip in 1942. I also changed there at Midway on my first coast to coast air trip after WWII. Now almost 60 years later, I consider it as the normal "hub" of our national air transportation system.

In an earlier post I commented on the noise that earlier jets used to make and the effect on suburbs so far removed from ORD that they would never have heard the sound of a prop plane. Today, the sound is not a big factor unless the location is right under the take-off runway.

But, in any event, this matter is bigger than just Illinois and Chicago. If the citizens there do not want to continue to accept their heritage of being the center/hub/midway point of our country's transportation, I feel sorry for them. They will be passing up a great opportunity. One of which DFW and STL will be happy to try to take AAadvantage.

I question whether the hometown airline (UA) will be happy with only mid-continent hubs at the existing ORD - plus DEN (far to the West) and at a place known only as Peotone. If so it will soon be #3 or even #4 domestically. If ORD does not expand, it will lose its historical place and become much more an O&D (origination and destination) airport.

Something to think about!