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jonesrmj Sep 18, 2022 11:02 PM

United/Emirates Partnership
 
Surprised this hasn't been posted here.

https://content.presspage.com/upload...irby.jpg?10000

Emirates and United recently announced a partnership. Basically, United will start operating a flight from EWR-DXB in March 2023 and passengers from both airlines can connect on the other one from their hub(s) starting November 2022.

Chicago was one of the three main cities Emirates specifically named as a prime connection spot since it's one of United's largest hubs, so I wonder if this means they'll send the A380 to O'Hare to add capacity to support connections on United once the second A380 gate in the Terminal 5 expansion opens since British Airways is currently using the other A380 gate.

Emirates is bringing the A380 to Houston starting December 1st, so I don't think it would be out of the question for it to come to Chicago as well.

More info - https://www.emirates.com/media-centr...new-agreement/

jonesrmj Sep 18, 2022 11:04 PM

Terminal 5 Expansion Updates?
 
Speaking of Terminal 5, Any updates on the completion of the expansion?

It seems like the completion date keeps getting pushed back, and I thought Delta was supposed to move to Terminal 5 in the summer.

Steely Dan Sep 20, 2022 3:33 PM

well, it's been nearly a decade since scheduled passenger service ended at Gary/Chicago Airport (GYY), and it looks like the airport is gonna make another try at convincing an airline to give it another go.

the 5 IN counties of chicago's CSA total some 830K people, so it seems to me that Gary might be able to support vacation runs to florida/vegas similar to allegiant's ops out of rockford, but allegiant already pulled out of gary a decade ago, and with their new service at MDW, i can't see them trying again. it'll likely have to be someone else, but who? we'll see what happens.

and with the runway extension from 7,000 to 9,000 feet, the airfield can easily handle any kind of domestic passenger jet.



Quote:

Gary airport taking another shot at passenger service
Andrew Steele
Sep 15, 2022

GARY — The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority is making a renewed effort at attracting passenger service, nine years after the last Allegiant Air jet departed for Florida.

The airport authority board on Wednesday approved a contract with the firm Mead & Hunt to perform a series of analyses and forecasts, attend air service development conferences and set up meetings with airlines.

"This is one of the necessary steps to be able to attract passenger air service," airport Executive Director Dan Vicari said.
full article: https://www.nwitimes.com/business/lo...bc86a365d.html

ardecila Sep 20, 2022 6:14 PM

I've been tracking FedEx packages lately and they are flying Chicago-bound packages into Indianapolis then trucking it up.

There's gotta be a market for Gary to build cargo facilities. I can't believe they are completely missing the boat on the e-commerce boom when they are so close to Chicago and the Southland.

Steely Dan Sep 20, 2022 6:29 PM

^ UPS started flying cargo flights into GYY a couple years ago, but they have big ops at RFD that will probably keep it from growing too big.

IND is of course a huge fedex hub and probably why they're trucking stuff up I-65 instead of setting up a satellite station at GYY.


but yeah, i'm with you, if GYY really wants to build itself up into more of an economic engine for the region, i'd think chasing the cargo market would bear a lot more fruit than trying the passenger route again.

OrdoSeclorum Sep 29, 2022 9:30 PM

ORD the world's most connected airport again.

https://airwaysmag.com/chicagos-ohar...CLdxKs8IOu3E9E

ORD is the most internationally connected airport in the world with 66 destinations, ahead of DFW. It is also the #1 most connected airport within the U.S., ahead of ATL.

FlashingLights Oct 4, 2022 6:55 PM

https://www.thrillist.com/news/new-y...om-jfk-airport

Anyone smarter than me want to explain to me what's going on with United & JFK? They just don't have enough gates to be in operation there?

Kngkyle Oct 4, 2022 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlashingLights (Post 9751053)
https://www.thrillist.com/news/new-y...om-jfk-airport

Anyone smarter than me want to explain to me what's going on with United & JFK? They just don't have enough gates to be in operation there?

JFK is a slot controlled airport which means United can't just expand there as much as they please. They need to either buy or lease slots from other airlines, or somehow convince the FAA that the congested airfield can handle more flights and those flights should be given to United.

They were only able to re-start JFK service last year because some international carriers leased their slots temporarily to United. They now want their slots back and United was unable to find other airlines willing to sell/lease theirs or convince the FAA to grant United additional slots.

United technically has a large number of slots at JFK (I think the 3rd most after JetBlue and Delta) but they leased them to American years and years ago when they left JFK originally and it was a long-term agreement.


Quote:

Slot Definition
A slot is the authorization for a flight to use a runway at a busy airport for either a takeoff or a landing. They exist at airports that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) deems capacity constrained. Without slots, the thinking goes, these airports would be so congested that it would be very difficult for flights to operate without delays.

In the U.S., there are four airports with FAA slot controls:

New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)

Tom In Chicago Oct 5, 2022 2:07 PM

Did I just see an add for a direct non-stop flight to Saudi Arabia as I was driving by the CTA LoopLink station? I had to do a doubletake, but it has been proposed. . . interesting. . .

. . .

nomarandlee Oct 5, 2022 2:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago (Post 9751770)
Did I just see an add for a direct non-stop flight to Saudi Arabia as I was driving by the CTA LoopLink station? I had to do a doubletake, but it has been proposed. . . interesting. . .

. . .

Even compared to other major metros there are certainly not a lot of Saudis to speak of hanging out in Chicago that I'm aware.

That would be interesting. I wonder if that would be a subsidized effort for the KSA in their "tourism" efforts or to more appeal to Chicago's Muslim pilgrimages, or both. I think the Saudis also do (or did) have the 2nd or 3rd most students in the US so that would pick up some of that traffic as well.

k1052 Oct 5, 2022 3:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago (Post 9751770)
Did I just see an add for a direct non-stop flight to Saudi Arabia as I was driving by the CTA LoopLink station? I had to do a doubletake, but it has been proposed. . . interesting. . .

. . .

See Mecca for a price that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Kngkyle Oct 5, 2022 3:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago (Post 9751770)
Did I just see an add for a direct non-stop flight to Saudi Arabia as I was driving by the CTA LoopLink station? I had to do a doubletake, but it has been proposed. . . interesting. . .

. . .

Saudia said a while ago that they intended to start flights from Riyadh to Chicago in 2022. That never happened but it seems to still be on their website as a "coming soon" destination. You aren't able to book anything yet so I'm surprised they would be advertising it.

Another rather unique destination for Chicago is Amman, which Royal Jordanian has flown nonstop for many years now.

nomarandlee Oct 5, 2022 6:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kngkyle (Post 9751931)
Saudia said a while ago that they intended to start flights from Riyadh to Chicago in 2022. That never happened but it seems to still be on their website as a "coming soon" destination. You aren't able to book anything yet so I'm surprised they would be advertising it.

Another rather unique destination for Chicago is Amman, which Royal Jordanian has flown nonstop for many years now.

Not so surprising given the huge Palestinian population in the Chicago area (the largest in the nation I believe). I'm guessing many Palestinians rather use Jordanian compared to El Al.

twister244 Oct 6, 2022 2:23 PM

Looks like Delta is making their moves next week to T5....

https://simpleflying.com/delta-air-l...hicago-o-hare/

This article seems to indicate the opening of the T5 expansion isn't going to happen all at once, but in phases. Also sounds like new gates are already being used.....

ardecila Oct 6, 2022 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k1052 (Post 9751882)
See Mecca for a price that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Booooooooooooo

Chicagoguy Oct 6, 2022 6:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244 (Post 9753067)
Looks like Delta is making their moves next week to T5....

https://simpleflying.com/delta-air-l...hicago-o-hare/

This article seems to indicate the opening of the T5 expansion isn't going to happen all at once, but in phases. Also sounds like new gates are already being used.....

New gates are already in use. I flew in last week on Lufthansa and we arrived at gate M34. It was pretty, but it felt like the longest walk ever to get to passport control.

twister244 Oct 6, 2022 7:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicagoguy (Post 9753494)
New gates are already in use. I flew in last week on Lufthansa and we arrived at gate M34. It was pretty, but it felt like the longest walk ever to get to passport control.

Nice! This makes me want to book an international flight out of T5 just so I can see the new gates in person.

Also I'm just getting a huge itch to take another international workcation trip.....

twister244 Oct 6, 2022 8:02 PM

Same press release, but with a couple other nuggets of information.

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/dept...day--oct-.html

Quote:

Earlier this year, the Chicago City Council approved the largest set of concessions agreements at O’Hare in more than a decade. Local favorites like Butcher and the Burger, Sparrow Coffee, Bar Siena, Hampton Social and more are coming to the expanded amenity spaces in Terminal 5. Mobile ordering from food and retail concessions with the option for gate-side delivery will also soon be available throughout the terminal.

OhioGuy Oct 12, 2022 3:43 PM

United Airlines to add nonstop flights to Shannon, Ireland and Barcelona, Spain

Quote:

CHICAGO (CBS)-- Travel to Shannon, Ireland or Barcelona, Spain, without a layover.

United Airlines just added the new nonstop flights to it's service from O'Hare.

The flights start on May 14.

Starting next summer, the Chicago-based carrier flies to 37 cities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

jonesrmj Oct 13, 2022 1:08 PM

Delta Moves To Terminal 5 At ORD
 
Some pictures of Delta's new operations and SkyClub at Terminal 5 which opened yesterday!

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fe3p-U-X...jpg&name=large

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fe3p-VaX...jpg&name=large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fe3p-VZX...jpg&name=large

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

https://thepointsguy.global.ssl.fast...jpg?width=1920

From Delta:
Quote:

Beginning Oct. 12, Delta customers traveling through Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) will be welcomed at the airline’s new home in Terminal 5. The spacious terminal, enhanced by a $50 million investment by Delta, comes equipped with modernized digital tools to expedite the check-in process and boasts a dazzling new 22,000-plus-square-foot Delta Sky Club—more premium space for customers to relax and recharge before flights.
More info - https://news.delta.com/delta-sky-clu...new-ohare-home
More pictures - https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-...chicago-ohare/

Overall, this looks like a big upgrade for Delta's operations out of ORD, especially considering that ORD isn't a hub or even focus city for Delta! I wonder if Delta would consider adding more destinations from ORD now that they have more gate space.

ardecila Oct 13, 2022 2:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonesrmj (Post 9759053)
Overall, this looks like a big upgrade for Delta's operations out of ORD, especially considering that ORD isn't a hub or even focus city for Delta! I wonder if Delta would consider adding more destinations from ORD now that they have more gate space.

Kind of a special case maybe. Isn't Delta the default choice for business flights Chicago-New York because they dominate the slots at LGA? That's a pretty wealthy market of air travelers.

Steely Dan Oct 13, 2022 3:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 9759169)
Isn't Delta the default choice for business flights Chicago-New York because they dominate the slots at LGA?


ORD to LGA (weekday):

american: 15x daily
united: 12x daily
delta: 8x daily



MDW to LGA (weekday):

southwest: 6x daily



ORD to EWR (weekday):

united: 11x daily
american: 6x daily



ORD to JFK (weekday):

delta: 4x daily
jet blue: 3x daily
american: 2x daily

twister244 Oct 13, 2022 3:29 PM

I am so booking my next flight out of T5 on Delta now!

What a beautiful looking lounge..... It looks like this, and the gates they are using are part of the new construction that was built on the front part of the existing T5, no? I was actually thinking of hopping over to Europe for a month of remote work next month, so this is a good excuse to book tickets lol.

woodrow Oct 13, 2022 3:42 PM

According to an article in Crain's, you can access two gates directly from the lounge. One mainly for the 12 flights to NY and another for Delta's international partners. Really fabulous perk. I imagine the United and American will do something similar in the new Terminal 2

OhioGuy Oct 14, 2022 4:03 AM

Terminal 5 looks nice, though it's a little inconvenient to be completely separate from the CTA station. Having to take the ATS adds extra time if arriving or leaving via the blue line, vs simply just walking down to the tunnel from the baggage claims for terminals 1, 2, & 3 (granted it's probably not an excessive amount of extra time).

ardecila Oct 14, 2022 2:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan (Post 9759178)
ORD to LGA (weekday):

Thanks - I thought Delta had a shuttle operation from ORD to LGA? Guess not.

FlashingLights Oct 20, 2022 7:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioGuy (Post 9758050)

OMG flying to Madrid and then having to get to Barcelona was always a pain. This is amazing!! I hope this route is successful Barcelona is one of my favorites cities.

twister244 Oct 26, 2022 3:37 PM

Great article over at YIMBY showing off the new wing of T5

https://chicagoyimby.com/2022/10/a-l...l-airport.html

Aside from the parking garage, new amenities in the extension, maybe some baggage handling work - The T5 is mostly done at this point. I would assume there might be some shuffling still of routes over to the new gates, and wrapping up tail-end work with T5 before shovels hit the ground on the sats.

Unless there's other headwinds preventing work on the next phase happening sooner than later?

rivernorthlurker Oct 26, 2022 8:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244 (Post 9772359)
Great article over at YIMBY showing off the new wing of T5

https://chicagoyimby.com/2022/10/a-l...l-airport.html

Aside from the parking garage, new amenities in the extension, maybe some baggage handling work - The T5 is mostly done at this point. I would assume there might be some shuffling still of routes over to the new gates, and wrapping up tail-end work with T5 before shovels hit the ground on the sats.

Unless there's other headwinds preventing work on the next phase happening sooner than later?

Exciting to see. I thought it wasn't operating until next spring/summer.

From HoK's website - it looks like some of the finishes will be added over the coming months hopefully. That center thing should be a video screen as well. Hopefully all the wood and stuff gets added like in the renderings. Things will feel a bit nicer when they do.

https://www.hok.com/projects/view/ch...l-5-expansion/

https://www.hok.com/wp-content/uploa...900x1270-1.jpg

https://www.hok.com/news/2019-03/hok...ional-airport/

You can see the unfinished space for the vendor spots below in the Yimby article.

https://www.hok.com/wp-content/uploa...ior-2-1900.jpg

https://www.hok.com/wp-content/uploa...ior-1-1900.jpg

ardecila Oct 26, 2022 8:45 PM

Hmm... I don't know if those wood accents are coming. The renderings on the HOK website seem to be the latest ones; the other ones you posted don't really match what was built. In the HOK renderings I don't see any wood, just lots of assorted furniture out of a catalog. The wait times on contract furniture these days are insane so it looks like they are using temporary furniture to get the terminal open.

I like the design though. Reminds me of other high-profile new terminals like T1 at SFO or the new terminals at LGA.

rivernorthlurker Oct 26, 2022 8:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244 (Post 9772359)
Great article over at YIMBY showing off the new wing of T5

https://chicagoyimby.com/2022/10/a-l...l-airport.html

Aside from the parking garage, new amenities in the extension, maybe some baggage handling work - The T5 is mostly done at this point. I would assume there might be some shuffling still of routes over to the new gates, and wrapping up tail-end work with T5 before shovels hit the ground on the sats.

Unless there's other headwinds preventing work on the next phase happening sooner than later?

Delta at least has already 'shuffled' over to Terminal 5 on the 12th. Apparently their new SkyLounge is operational there I think.

Edit: Actually it is as someone posted pics above. Thanks!

https://www.aviacionline.com/2022/10...to-terminal-5/

rivernorthlurker Oct 26, 2022 8:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 9772835)
Hmm... I don't know if those wood accents are coming. Probably just assorted furniture out of a catalog, but the wait times on contract furniture these days are insane.

I like the design though. Reminds me of other high-profile new terminals like T1 at SFO or the new terminals at LGA.

Yeah totally. It's a bit like a house before you add any furnishings. Once the vendors move in and there's some more furniture delivered things will feel a bit better. Same with the video screen in the middle (and the guy playing the piano underneath lol).

Those wooden sitting areas would be a nice touch - hopefully they are added whatever they are. It's hard to tell from the latest renderings on HoK as the angles aren't quite the same. But I could see them getting axed as the first link I posted were renderings pre-covid from 2019. They're probably non covid kosher or something.

rivernorthlurker Oct 26, 2022 8:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 9772835)
I like the design though. Reminds me of other high-profile new terminals like T1 at SFO or the new terminals at LGA.

HoK partnered in this design and they also designed Terminal B at LGA.

https://www.hok.com/projects/market/...ransportation/

F1 Tommy Oct 26, 2022 10:45 PM

Air New Zealand flights should be back at ORD again in a week finally. Last flights in February 2020, other than a few cargo flights during Covid.

lakeshoredrive Oct 27, 2022 2:42 AM

Why can't the old terminal 5 be renamed to T4 while the new expansion can be T5.

jonesrmj Oct 27, 2022 3:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakeshoredrive (Post 9773214)
Why can't the old terminal 5 be renamed to T4 while the new expansion can be T5.

The Global Terminal is replacing Terminal 2 so it's not like they are adding another terminal.

jonesrmj Oct 27, 2022 3:21 AM

The Terminal 5 expansion looks good, albeit a little bare. I'm sure though that it'll look a lot better once they get the new businesses open and maybe decorate it a little more. Have they added the new permanent jetways that connect directly to the expanded part, and if so, do some of the gates have dual jet bridges for widebodies like originally in the renderings? I'd imagine that at minimum, Gate M29/M30 has two jet bridges since it's A380 capable like Gate M17 is.

twister244 Oct 27, 2022 2:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonesrmj (Post 9773244)
The Terminal 5 expansion looks good, albeit a little bare. I'm sure though that it'll look a lot better once they get the new businesses open and maybe decorate it a little more. Have they added the new permanent jetways that connect directly to the expanded part, and if so, do some of the gates have dual jet bridges for widebodies like originally in the renderings? I'd imagine that at minimum, Gate M29/M30 has two jet bridges since it's A380 capable like Gate M17 is.

I fly to London tomorrow evening on an A380 - I will scope it out ;)

jonesrmj Oct 27, 2022 3:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244 (Post 9773512)
I fly to London tomorrow evening on an A380 - I will scope it out ;)

You'll probably fly out of Gate M17 because that's the gate that British Airways has been using for their A380 service.

tintinex Oct 27, 2022 4:40 PM

Yesterday I had the opportunity to use the below level hallway coming into the new T5 towards the customs area as I was coming home from London. I would have to say, I almost feel that while it smelled like new, the actual user experience is definitely worse than it was before, at least for now.

It was a much longer walk, definitely over 10 minutes through a very bland hallway underground. Very sparse moving walkways (one wasn't working), but the most bizarre part that from very early on, they had soft divided the walkway on Global entry left and everyone else to the right with the divided belts in between, so for almost the entire 10 minute walk they prevented people on the left from using the moving walkways, only to have the lines joined at the end right before the escalator into the customs area, so the entire divide was worthless, and the no less than 4 agents asking sporadically "global entry to the left" were essentially there for nothing.

I understand that this is just a soft opening and that the whole terminal won't be ready until 2024, but after being at Heathrow and seeing how great their airport is and how much they care about people flow even though some of the walks are even longer than 15 minutes, it was a slight disappointment.

Also very jealous of London's Heathrow express line and the brand new Elizabeth line and would love to see trains and stations like that in Chicago, one can dream

Some photos I took below

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eo...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B3...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5I...-no?authuser=0

kbud Oct 27, 2022 8:48 PM

T5 lounges and the 2nd A380 gate
 
When the T5 renovation kicked off, one area of need cited was the lack of space for airline lounges. Delta’s new lounge seems like a nice addition, but I’m surprised there has been no other mention of any other new lounges.
- Are any new ones planned (Emirates, Qatar, or Etihad)?
- Will the Delta lounge also act as a SkyTeam lounge, and will the Air France lounge now close?
- Will Swiss or SAS expand theirs? The Swiss lounge is a shoebox. I know they’ll eventually move to T2, but that’ll be in 5+ years.
- There was a plan to add a 2nd A380 gate with the T5 expansion, did this happen? Would that coincide with Emirates ever bringing the A380 here? With their partnership with United I’d think they’d have more demand at ORD now.

rivernorthlurker Oct 27, 2022 8:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by migueltorres (Post 9773720)
Yesterday I had the opportunity to use the below level hallway coming into the new T5 towards the customs area as I was coming home from London. I would have to say, I almost feel that while it smelled like new, the actual user experience is definitely worse than it was before, at least for now.

It was a much longer walk, definitely over 10 minutes through a very bland hallway underground. Very sparse moving walkways (one wasn't working), but the most bizarre part that from very early on, they had soft divided the walkway on Global entry left and everyone else to the right with the divided belts in between, so for almost the entire 10 minute walk they prevented people on the left from using the moving walkways, only to have the lines joined at the end right before the escalator into the customs area, so the entire divide was worthless, and the no less than 4 agents asking sporadically "global entry to the left" were essentially there for nothing.

I understand that this is just a soft opening and that the whole terminal won't be ready until 2024, but after being at Heathrow and seeing how great their airport is and how much they care about people flow even though some of the walks are even longer than 15 minutes, it was a slight disappointment.

Also very jealous of London's Heathrow express line and the brand new Elizabeth line and would love to see trains and stations like that in Chicago, one can dream

Some photos I took below

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eo...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B3...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5I...-no?authuser=0


FYI your photos are not loading for me.

Though I believe I went through here a couple weeks ago. The 'agents telling people go to the left' every 50 feet gave it away. Yes, it was a ridiculously long walk. I was questioning if this was part of the new expansion or if this was going to be improved with the new expansion. I concluded this has to be a part that will be improved/replaced in the overall plan because it felt so ridiculously inconvenient and inefficient. Not sure what the future for this is.

https://i.imgur.com/wvA2xGR.jpg

SIGSEGV Oct 27, 2022 9:13 PM

I flew in from Frankfurt on Sunday and don't remember a long walk, though I was pretty out of it. (Most of what I remember is a surprisingly short passport control line that only took 2 minutes, but then having to wait a long time for my bag...).

jonesrmj Oct 27, 2022 9:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbud (Post 9774057)
Are any new ones planned (Emirates, Qatar, or Etihad)?

No new lounges are currently planned as far as I know, but part of the description of the expansion project did mention more space for things including lounges so maybe.
Quote:

Originally Posted by kbud (Post 9774057)
- Will the Delta lounge also act as a SkyTeam lounge, and will the Air France lounge now close?

The lounge is branded as a Delta Sky Club just like in other airports. That being said, I believe that Skyteam members with certain status can access the Sky Clubs.
Quote:

Originally Posted by kbud (Post 9774057)
- Will Swiss or SAS expand theirs? The Swiss lounge is a shoebox. I know they’ll eventually move to T2, but that’ll be in 5+ years.

Haven't herd anything about expansions to existing lounges (other than the new Sky Club that opened), but I would imagine that some lounges could expand with the extra space. Don't know about Swiss or SAS specifically.
Quote:

Originally Posted by kbud (Post 9774057)
- There was a plan to add a 2nd A380 gate with the T5 expansion, did this happen? Would that coincide with Emirates ever bringing the A380 here? With their partnership with United I’d think they’d have more demand at ORD now.

Looking at the expansion on a satellite map, they have indeed added a space big enough to park a second A380 at Terminal 5 (I think it's Gates M29/M30). My assumption based on the numbering on the map is that M29 and M30 can either serve two narrowbodies or be used together for an A380 (one for lower deck boarding and the other for upper deck boarding).

As far as Emirates goes, Chicago was specifically mentioned as a key city for the partnership and given that United has one of their biggest hubs here, the possibilities for connections are definitely abundant. I did hear that Emirates recently announced that they were bringing back the A380 to Houston (which was another key city specifically mentioned for the partnership) and given that Emirates does carry more passengers out of ORD than IAH, I'd imagine that they are considering bringing the A380 to ORD but are waiting to see how the second A380 gate is coming along since British Airways has been using the other A380 gate. This is all speculation though so I could be wrong.

tintinex Oct 28, 2022 2:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV (Post 9774094)
I flew in from Frankfurt on Sunday and don't remember a long walk, though I was pretty out of it. (Most of what I remember is a surprisingly short passport control line that only took 2 minutes, but then having to wait a long time for my bag...).

ah yeah especially with Global Entry this tends to happen, especially on Sundays. In fact the bags sometimes are out in the carrousel even before the board updates with the carrousel number. When I asked about why they said on weekends they don't have enough staff for updating the boards consistently :shrug:

twister244 Oct 28, 2022 8:19 PM

So I’m at T5 right now waiting in security… and what a shit show. This is the second time this year where the security lines are severely choked and atrociously slow. If T5 is going to keep moving flights into this terminal, they need to address this ASAP as the problem is only going to get worse. It’s embarrassing.

Vlajos Oct 28, 2022 9:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244 (Post 9775288)
So I’m at T5 right now waiting in security… and what a shit show. This is the second time this year where the security lines are severely choked and atrociously slow. If T5 is going to keep moving flights into this terminal, they need to address this ASAP as the problem is only going to get worse. It’s embarrassing.

So a T5 issue? I have flown quite a bit this year (not T5) and security has been the fastest I can remember.

woodrow Oct 28, 2022 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244 (Post 9775288)
So I’m at T5 right now waiting in security… and what a shit show. This is the second time this year where the security lines are severely choked and atrociously slow. If T5 is going to keep moving flights into this terminal, they need to address this ASAP as the problem is only going to get worse. It’s embarrassing.

TSA Precheck?

twister244 Oct 28, 2022 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vlajos (Post 9775371)
So a T5 issue? I have flown quite a bit this year (not T5) and security has been the fastest I can remember.

Absolutely a T5 issue. They have too many passengers and not enough security. FWIW, the checkpoint looked temporary in nature, so I’m assuming they are building out new checkpoints somewhere that can accompany the increase in volume. The new addition looks super nice, but no amenities yet. You can tell there will be probably new stuff opening over the coming months. I am sitting on BAs A380, which flew out of M17. While this isn’t part of the addition, it’s part of the new buildout on the front part of the original terminal, so the gates were new. Also, noticed Southwest is flying out of the new addition, so they probably moved down there to make way for Delta on the other end of the terminal.

twister244 Oct 28, 2022 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodrow (Post 9775410)
TSA Precheck?

This checkpoint didn’t have precheck… Maybe the other one down by the Delta wing has it, but this one didn’t.

Point is…. If you fly out of T5, give yourself a ton of time to be safe. I was in security for 45 minutes.


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