I think part of the problem is two fold:
1 - The only two major domestic carriers in T5 are Southwest and Delta, and they are only in T5. Southwest doesn't do lounges, and Delta invested into a really nice one there. That tells me Delta plans to be in there for a long time. My hope is Southwest at some point reduces their presence and Delta expands to take up some of that space. But that's mostly because I despise SW. If you look at United, they are investing into new lounges (https://simpleflying.com/united-airl...ounge-chicago/), just not in T5. They operate a few international flights into T5, but I don't think they have any sort of justifiable presence there to justify a lounge. American isn't sitting well these days, so they probably don't want to spend money where they don't have to.

2 - I suspect many of the international carriers are going to wait until the Global Terminal begins construction in a few years to invest into their own lounges there. Why build out a shiny new lounge in T5 if you plan on moving your flights to the new GT?

O'hare's first Chick-fil-A!!!

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/rest...lU0nH54SccFcLM

No thanks...I don't like a side of hate with my chicken.

From what I personally know, the re-design is much more refined that this 3D blocking diagram, but the overall massing is kinda sorta similar, fwiw.

I was in Cali last week, flew into LAX from Midway, and flew back home from San Jose (SF had no decent flight times). LAX is massive but kinda messy, both in terms of connectivity and the overall design of the facility. San Jose is much smaller, but really efficient, easy to get to, and just a much more pleasant experience.

O'Hare is so massive, that when you get there, it really feels like a completely different environment, whereas airports like LAX and San Jose feel much more integrated into their respective locations/surroundings. As O'Hare keeps expanding, it's going to feel even more massive...hopefully, one day soon, they'll also have commercial space flights out of there :D

LAX is ridiculous. It takes like an hour to get dropped off there...

Daily mail is a trash rag obviously but what a few people have complained about here seems to be catching attention. Not a great look.. why does the city allow it to continue? There's plenty of places the city doesn't allow the homeless to camp so I don't understand why they decided O'Hare was a good place for this...

^Yeah. . . this is an utter disgrace. . . there's nothing more I can say about it. . .

. . .

Flew in a couple days ago. seems like theyre trying to keep them contained to terminal 2 as i got turned around and ended up in terminal 3 before heading back to 1 and didnt see any homeless people in 1 and 3.

Not sure what level of authority LL has here, but she needs to address this now.

And if not her, someone needs to be held accountable. Homeless people absolutely not be allowed to camp out indoors at O'Hare.

Again, There should be zero tolerance.

LL has certainly done everything in her power to guarantee she won't be re-elected. Just hope not too many more fires are started before she leaves office.

If you think bad publicity is going to disappear with a new administration, I’ve got bad news for you. I think those of us who live in the city are far more concerned with quality of life than the #10 trending topic on Twitter.

I care a lot less about the bad publicity going away than I do the growing piles of homeless at the airport.

If the mayor has the authority to clean it up and enforce a no camping ban at the airport, then she needs to do it now.

I just moved back to Chicago, living in NYC the last 10 years, the homeless at ORD and the homeless on the redline is out of control....

Why does such a relatively minor issue (homelessness is a huge issue, but homelessness at O'Hare is easily fixable) have to blow up in the national media before she pays attention and does something? This issue has been discussed here for months now and her response to all the media attention is to basically plead ignorance. She's now saying its unacceptable and will be cleaned up... great... why did it get to this point in the first place? Just clueless. She's probably also completely ignorant to the CTA issues... having never stepped foot on a CTA bus or train in her life.

How else do you think she will hear about it? You think she knows about everything? My guess is Chicago police need the resources elsewhere instead of outside security at O'hare. The best way to handle this is further fund Chicago airport authority from gate fees and allow them weapons to take over not just the other side of security and handle the entire terminal.

If it was not for the news report [ “Dystopian Homeless Encampments Overtake Chicago’s Airports.”] nothing would have happened.
I'd like to know how they pass screening. What do they mean "they" are letting them back in? Who is "they". I want to know who approved of this.




https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-ha...lori-lightfoot

Mayor vows to remove unhoused people from O’Hare as more seek shelter at airport

Lightfoot said Thursday that it’s a security risk to allow homeless people to stay at O’Hare. But a law enforcement source said that starting this week, additional police has been dedicated to offering services to homeless people — and removing those who don’t accept the help.

By Fran Spielman, Tom Schuba, Neil Steinberg and Emmanuel Camarillo Feb 16, 2023, 8:24pm CST

Advocates and workers say the number of unhoused people that sleep or take refuge at the airport has increased substantially this year.

In remarks to reporters Thursday, the mayor acknowledged the seriousness of the problem — which she said was different than encampments beneath viaducts, in parks and elsewhere on city streets — even as she argued that the conservative media had blown the issue out of proportion.

“We have taken and will continue to take the steps that are necessary to move people out of the airports,” she said. “The airports are a very different place than on the street under an underpass.”

As a secure location, O’Hare does not allow members of the public to be at the airport unless they are flying in or out or work there. Chicago police and the city Department of Aviation have said “we absolutely, fundamentally cannot have people sleeping in our airports who are homeless. That is unacceptable,” the mayor said. “We’re gonna continue within the bounds of the law to do what is necessary to provide those folks with support —but elsewhere. They can’t be in our airports.”

...

Stephan Koruba, a nurse-practitioner at the Night Ministry, said he and another nurse-practitioner were at O’Hare for three hours Sunday, providing medical care at the request of Haymarket, and found far more people camping out there than before.

“It was way, way busier, three times what we saw before,” he said. “We were seeing people we knew from all over the city. The attractions are obvious — a roof over your head, relatively warm, restrooms.”

Koruba and his colleague saw 45 homeless people and treated 14 for wounds, parasites and substance abuse.

Koruba said he asked his clients why there were now more people living at O’Hare.

“They said, ‘They’re letting us back in,’” he said. “I don’t know if word got out that it’s a good place to be.”

...

There's no homeless people in the secure areas of the terminal. . . they get off the train and hang out in the common areas of Terminal 2 - lower level baggage area where there's access to the restrooms and plenty of space to lay on the floor or shuffle around trying to stay warm. . . no one is shooing them away because "not my job" :shrug:

. . .

https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/...opez-backlash/

So it took Lopez going onto Fox News to finally get the mayor to respond to this problem.....

Also:

What steps exactly were taken, if any up to this press conference?

^The fact that it took a city alderman to go on Fox News just shows you that the LL administration is incompetent at managing the basic "optics" of that department. . . epic fail. . .

. . .