Right, it will not going away for a very long time. UA is here to stay and UA isn't leaving from Houston. They don't have worry about WN.

The cities that got the full-length shrift were mainly those with substantial terminal projects, of which Chicago has none.

With the exception of the insanely beautiful (and insanely expensive) Helmut Jahn-designed canopy/curbside project, all of Chicago's work is on the airfield and travelers will never experience it except in the form of reduced delays and more daily flights.

I agree with that 100% on Houston. UA can't afford to pull down anymore and they will be back. I think the UA/AA should also pay more attention to Southwest.

Though, the article wasn't limited to consumer-facing developments - it enumerates some of the projects at Philadelphia, all of which were mere runway projects. Also, Chicago does indeed have projects with semi-direct traveler impact - the airfield improvements will enable the newest jumbo jets to use ORD (at least the 747-8; last I read the A380 would still need taxiway upgrades in addition to the obvious gate construction, but maybe those have in fact been added by now), and the forthcoming consolidated car rental facility is typologically close enough to being an airport project that some of the other listed cities' overall project costs probably include on-site airport-affiliated garages. Anyway by many measures (particularly airport capacity) Chicago is No 2 in the country so to omit discussion of it in an article like this stands out a bit too much.
I'm delighted that we could have a 4th parallel runway 18 months from now (I hope there is no more fuss with the 2 cemeteries - is there even anyone living today who ever knew any of the people interred there? In the same era that those people died, the 19th Century I believe, various European cities were un-burying graves after just 5 or 10 years due to cemetery crowding and moving the remains, so I hope this doesn't categorically offend anybody.) and a 5th parallel runway in just a couple years. I wonder what prompted Rahm to bring forward the talks? Maybe AA's situation had something to do with it. Maybe he just likes doing stuff early. Or maybe he wants to get things moving while LaHood and Obama are certain to still be office (random thought).

Looks like the promised 10% capacity cut on IAH is starting to be loaded into the schedules, to the benefit of ORD and DEN. I believe this now makes ORD the largest hub.

Change in number of flights for this fall:
IAH -17
DEN +12
ORD +8

^
When do these changes go into effect. For summer 2012=IAH:649, ORD=642. So if it is a change from these numbers, that would indeed make ORD the largest hub by number of flights. And what about EWR which currently has four more flilghts then DEN, will they see any change or will DEN become the third largest ORD hub.

The changes I listed go into effect mostly in October and November. So yes, they would not be incorporated into your Sumer 2012 numbers. EWR saw little change.

I'm getting my information from this topic:
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo....main/5492754/

United giving Chicago some more love:
http://ir.unitedcontinentalholdings....262&highlight=

New service to Monterrey, Thunder Bay, Nassau, Jackson, and Anchorage. Good to see the airline growing.

Also, they cut another 30 daily flights this week from Houston, so Chicago will undoubtedly be the largest hub.

Airberlin just announced new service to Chicago from Berlin. First time any airline has flown this route, according to the press release at least.

http://www.airberlin.com/en-DE/site/...dr.php?ID=4601

Direct Berlin/Chicago flights will be real nice!

Hainan Airlines has announced 4x weekly service between Beijing and Chicago with 787s starting next year. This could be interesting as both United and American already fly the route daily, so that is a lot of capacity. This will be Hainans second US destination, the other being Seattle.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...18-718303.html

^ The article (and a similar article in USA Today) indicates that this route could be inaugurated with aircraft comparable to 787 if Chinese regulators require additional domestic proving by Hainan of the 787 before permitting them on the international routes. Apparently, according to WSJ, "Chinese regulators have in the past taken time before authorizing new aircraft types on long-haul routes, requiring its carriers to have extensive proving runs on domestic flights. China Southern has been flying its huge Airbus A380s on domestic services for a year." (Who knew Chinese regulators were concerned about anything occurring beyond their borders. Maybe they are genuinely now embracing a role of leadership and integration with the world economy and its norms as opposed to just exporting into it. It will be an interesting adolescence to watch mature.)

I also must remind that Delta headquarters is in Atlanta, so obviously there will be noticeably favoritism and not sucking up. The only reason Houston is not showing favoritism to Chicago based United is because of the loss of its Continental Headquarters .

New T5 concessions
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3...4756889620.jpg
Epstein/ Facebook

This is LONG overdue. The T5 concessions are pitiful, cramped, and bunched up around the security lines. Hopefully they can take over some of the space from one of the air lounges to expand.

I like the design screen-printed onto the glass panels up above, too - it screens that balcony and provides a slick modern backdrop without interrupting Perkins+Will's original design. I wonder if Gensler anticipates that design changing over time?

I spy an 'M' Burger. I'm excited - since my last trip its a new Chicago tradition for me!

^ Amen to both of the last two comments.

===============

And here finally is a long-awaited reveal:


http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,7051935.story

United to try out 787 on Chicago-Houston flights

... United Continental Holdings, parent of United Airlines, will announce Thursday that it will begin a number of domestic 787 flights before putting those planes on international routes. It will include temporary flights between Chicago O'Hare and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. ...

The first 787 Chicago flights to Houston will begin Nov. 4 and end Dec. 3. That service will operate six days a week during that time, with the Chicago flight departing at 11:15 a.m. After that, daily service will restart Jan. 4 and run to March 29. ...

The 787s will initially be based in Houston and operate between Houston and United's domestic hubs: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newark, Cleveland, Denver and Dulles near Washington, D.C. ...

Wow! Finally! Just about time! Looking good! Can't wait to give a try.

O'Hare E-letter.......

Maybe once the ATS extension is done Metra can buy a few DMUs and do an express service out of Union operating every 15 minutes or so. Seems a little more cost effective than CTA spending hundreds of millions to do it.