I'm sure that will be the case on some routes. But they are saying they want to do both increase the number of departures at ORD by ~100 per day and also increase the average size (# of seats) of those departures by 30%.

I'm pretty bullish on the idea that electric airplanes will be a big player in the future, at least for regional routes, especially if their much lower operational expenses play out.

Given they are very quiet and do not need much runway I was wondering if a near-downtown airport for regional flights would ever make sense again. Be it another kind of Meigs Field or London City Airport. The question of course is where would one put it? Out into the Lake? Along the South Branch industrial corridor somewhere?

ES-19
Takeoff Distance
2,500 ft
Landing Distance
2,500 ft
Passenger Capacity
19
Range
250 mi

I'm not saying South Works, but.... South Works?

Meh, I don't see that as huge convenience savings for regional passengers wanting to fly into downtown Chicago.

I would say over the Roosevelt Train yards but you have the St.Charles Bridge running right smack in the middle.

Maybe you could lake infill and make a 3K foot E/W runway on the north side of the Jardin Filtration Plant. That could have access issues and not be cheap to build.

You could perhaps do Lake infill and make a N/S runway where the seawall barrier already is at Monroe Harbor. It already has a helipad space and CFD there. Again, access and cost would be an issue. One could set up a short Air-Gondala over the river to Navy Pier for logistics and pick-up/drop-offs. Would be great for Navy Pier tourism, though it would make it mega-congested over there

I think the notion that an airport and runway of any size is going to be anywhere near downtown is laughable. That just is not going to happen for a multitude of reasons.

A location along the Stevenson is also not going to happen as it would be entirely too close to Midway flight patterns.

Really, I don't see anywhere within city limits, besides somehow coming up with extra capacity at MDW, other than some south side or far south side location, and even then the approach path for MDW would likely be a problem. It would have to be surgically inserted and who knows if the FAA would ever allow it. Seriously, who knows?

I wasn't aware this was a thing, but I flew out of terminal 1 the other week and it looks like they are replacing all of the glass. It is a notable color shift… it looked really good, but that also could just be the replaced sections were dramatically cleaner.

That does look way better. They almost look like solar panels.

Oh good. Hopefully this fixes the leaks.

Also the idea that United would forego connectivity to their hub seems kind of insane.

I was traveling out of the satellite concourse this week and the new glass made such a notable change. Definitely the facelift that T1 has so desperately needed.

As the pictures show it needs a cleaning more than a facelift. That terminal is covered with years of kerosene Jet A fuel exhaust. You can even smell the stuff when you come back from vacation after a week in the country. By the way, I love terminal 1. Best looking terminal at ORD by far. I hope they keep it the way it is for many years to come but also take better care of it in the future.

They're doing rolling gate closures through 2021 and essentially doing a replacement of all the glass and roofing and rehabilitating the structure.

This picture was posted on the ORD Twitter Page. Looks like pretty good progress on the Terminal 5 expansion!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E66dBFLX...pg&name=medium

Icelandair upgrading to 757-300's from 757-200's wich is a good sign of load factors from ORD. Latam also still operating 777-300 cargo charters to South America several times a week.

An architect for the city has been posting updates of the T5 expansion on LinkedIn. Her latest set was posted yesterday -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h31i9vp436...201.jpeg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vqrxzm2sk3...202.jpeg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yq30xmrwce...203.jpeg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/497q2cunxt...204.jpeg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yeukv4cwkx...205.jpeg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16z3odo88g...206.jpeg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0fa8m90y26...207.jpeg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e02wfl59xk...208.jpeg?raw=1
Source: LinkedIn | Saaema Alavi

Looks like great progress! ^

I wonder if it will be complete by fall or winter this year!

The city says mid to late 2022 now.

Oh, yikes!

It's not even fully enclosed yet - 2022 is not unreasonable, considering how complex this project is, and it's not that far away.

Satellite terminals
 

So whats the latest estimate of when the satellite terminal will be started?