CHICAGO: ORD & MDW discussion

[Rail Claimore]

I wouldn't be surprised if concerns that UA and AA raised a while back would come into fruition regarding the expansion plan. Expect to see the two center runways of the new configuration axed if O'Hare doesn't see enough A380 and 747-8 traffic to warrant those. Four parallel runways spaced apart enough for trimultaneous operations would still do about 80% of what the full runway reconfiguration aims to accomplish... and they can always go back and build the two center runways if demand warrants. Though it must be noted that future 10C/28C runway is the one causing the big stink over that cemetary.

[nomarandlee]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transpo...ride30.article

Lofty O'Hare plans
EXPANSION | City pushing forward despite drop in airline traffic

June 30, 2008Recommend (5)

Neither record oil prices, nor airline cutbacks, nor falling O'Hare passenger numbers can keep Rosemarie Andolino from her appointed rounds.

Andolino, the ebullient head of the O'Hare Modernization Program, plans next month to formally ask the feds if the city can spend $200 million in future passenger ticket tax revenue on the design for the second phase of the multibillion-dollar expansion project.

She'll ask, even though she suspects cash-strapped United and American airlines won't like the proposal. She thinks the Federal Aviation Administration will OK the city's request anyway, because the expansion must get done. The revenue is generated by a $4.50 ticket tax on each departing passenger.

.........The $200 million design cost is the first step toward Phase Two of O'Hare modernization, which will cost another $5 billion on top of the $3.2 billion planned for Phase One. The city wants the second phase, which includes a runway extension and a new western terminal, to be done by 2014. The city says the total improvement plan will be around $15 billion. Opponents put the cost higher.

Airport revenue bonds are funding much of Phase One. Andolino won't speculate on whether O'Hare's airlines will support future airport revenue bond issues for Phase Two. The city will also consider third-party investors, although the city doesn't have any in mind yet, Andolino said.

Joseph Karaganis, a lawyer for suburban communities that oppose the O'Hare expansion, thinks the third-party notion is unrealistic and that the expansion will never happen.

"Does she know a Russian billionaire?" Karaganis scoffed. "Chicago's claim they can fund this stuff without the airlines won't hold water on analysis." He worries that taxpayers could be on the hook for construction funding if airlines can't pay.

Airline industry analyst Mike Boyd agrees with Andolino that despite airline cutbacks, O'Hare expansion is still a good idea.

"You have to constrict a whole lot to get to the point where that extra runway won't be used," Boyd said, noting that O'Hare delays affect flights around the country. "We need as many as you can build."

But Boyd said the city must show airlines that the expansion will bring their operating costs down before they'll put up more money. "They don't want to pay for anything extra they don't need," Boyd said.

The current bonds are stable despite the airline's troubles, said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Joseph Pezzimenti. If airport activity goes down too much, airfield and landing fee rates will go up to meet debt payments.

Pezzimenti said the city still must work to get airline approval to finance Phase Two. "That's the key thing for them to move forward," he said...........

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[ardecila]

Well, I guess that article addressed all my doubts about the future of the O'Hare expansion plan. I am very surprised that they are still going ahead with the western terminal... I hope they hire somebody good to design it. Norman Foster is a pretty safe choice, but what would a Calatrava terminal be like?

[Marcu]

^ With Illinois' political clout (aka Dick Durbin), there's no way this is not getting through the FAA.

[ardecila]

No, I don't think the FAA will deny it... but it surprises me that the City of Chicago is still pursuing a western terminal, when more runway improvements would fix the problems that currently exist at O'Hare.

Plans for the western terminal, BTW, call for such costly features as access roads (probably using local roads, but eventually freeways) and a tunnel underneath the airfield to extend the People Mover. If the city is smart, they should bore a large-diameter tunnel that could fit both a Blue Line extension and the People Mover.

[nomarandlee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,5093826.story

Bensenville, Chicago in court again over O'Hare expansion
Bensenville wants judge to kill demolition plans
By Art Barnum | Chicago Tribune reporter
8:52 PM CDT, July 7, 2008


A four-day DuPage County court hearing that could lead to the demolition of more than 500 homes in the proposed path of a new southern runway for O'Hare International Airport began Monday, with attorneys for Chicago and Bensenville continuing the fight they have carried on for a decade.

DuPage Circuit Judge Kenneth Popejoy approved a temporary restraining order last July halting Chicago's plans to demolish the homes on the Bensenville property it has been buying up over the years to make way for the $15 billion O'Hare expansion.

Popejoy ordered an environmental study to guard against the release of any hazardous materials during the demolition of vacant buildings. Robert Graham, an attorney representing Chicago, said Monday that the study found "nothing to stop the demolition from going forward. We found nothing unexpected above ground or below ground. We found less than what was expected."

...........Popejoy hasn't said whether he will announce his decision at the end of the hearing Thursday or take several days to issue a more complete written opinion.

Chicago owns 555 of 611 properties in the runway path; about 500 are vacant. Chicago officials said that only about 30 families remain in the residential area east of York Road, on both sides of Irving Park Road..............

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[the urban politician]

How the hell is Bensenville paying for this?

Do they seriously not have other expenses?

[Haworthia]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

How the hell is Bensenville paying for this?

Do they seriously not have other expenses?

I've wondered about that too. I have no idea how much they are paying for lawyers, but it must be a small fortune. It all seems like a complete waste. By the sounds of it, certain areas are already empty. Those areas are officially dead. Who would ever want to buy there now with the future threat of O'Hare expanding in the future if this doesn't go through?

[VivaLFuego]

What's the matter with those 30 remaining families? Do they really think by staying that somehow things will return to normal?

It's like those few people who 'successfully' fought eminent domain for 30 years in the Illinois Medical District. I get the idea and importance of doing something out of principle (opposing O'hare Expansion, however, I definitely don't agree with), but at some point one has to wonder what it's worth.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...cl=1&encType=1

Did those people really "win"? The neighborhood is long gone, and their property value diminished because there is no opportunity for anything other than eventual inclusion in the IMD. So why bother? At some point, you throw in the towel and realize that in the long run, government always wins because it exists in perpetuity and maintains a monopoly on the use of force but I guess the Bensenville knuckleheads would rather punish "The Government" (read: The Taxpayer) with endless lawsuits, legal maneuverings, and construction delays. Didn't the City of Chicago offer everyone far above (like >50% greater than) market value for their properties to avoid eminent domain?

[nomarandlee]

Midway Airport news, if long term plans for Southwest go ahead (I think they are the only airline still expanding amazingly) then Midway could max out rather soon. The more routes and flights out of Midway the better I say.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel...,7692352.story

Southwest could expand Midway presence with WestJet deal
By James P. Miller | Tribune staff reporter
10:15 AM CDT, July 8, 2008

Southwest Airlines Co., in a move that is likely to bolster future traffic at Chicago's Midway Airport, said Tuesday that it intends to start a codeshare partnership with Canada's Westjet Airlines Ltd., in a move that represents the Texas-based discount carrier's first venture outside the U.S............

Chicago's Midway is currently Southwest's second-largest base, but it could become its biggest operations center at Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly moves ahead with tentative plans to expand Southwest into Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean.

Midway, Kelly told the Chicago Tribune last week, might serve as a gateway for Southwest's Canadian partner, which will funnel a host of new flights into the city and Southwest's network.........

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[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

Midway Airport news, if long term plans for Southwest go ahead (I think they are the only airline still expanding amazingly) then Midway could max out rather soon. The more routes and flights out of Midway the better I say.


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Acording to the FAA, Midway will be capacity constrained in a decade if O'Hare does not expand. This is beacuse delays at O'Hare= more planes queing on the runways, taxiways and gates at O'Hare= daleyed arivials circling around the city and congesting the shared airspace used by all airports in the region.

[VivaLFuego]

Midway really only has 2 runways for passenger jets, and not only do they criss-cross (no simultaneous operations), but in certain wind conditions only one can be used for all operations. Seems like Midway would become capacity constrained by its airfield before it does by its terminal facilities, no?

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Don't worry, they will probably just fly the planes in willy nilly anyhow even if it risks collision... Just seems how we do it these days with crowded airports, just shove the planes in anyhow...

[VivaLFuego]

How does Midway compare in terms of total flight movements (and delays) to other busy one-runway airports like Gatwick?

[nomarandlee]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transpo...hare22.article

City seeks ideas for new O'Hare terminal
PHASE 2 |
Wants to spend $200 mil. on design

July 21, 2008

BY FRAN SPIELMAN AND MARY WISNIEWSKIStaff Reporters

The Daley administration is forging ahead with planning for a new western terminal at O'Hare Airport -- though it doesn't yet have the money to design or build it and is not sure exactly how it will be used.

City Hall has issued a "request for qualifications" that asks design firms to plan for a range of possibilities for the new terminal.

"This effort will likely be undertaken without a defined final use or tenant," the request says. "Therefore, the study should explore the impacts of a range of potential uses on the overall space requirements .

These early stage designs will cost up to $10 million. That amount is part of a request the city plans to make to the Federal Aviation Administration for authority to spend $200 million in future passenger ticket tax revenue on the total design of Phase 2 of the O'Hare expansion.

"We're looking to define and refine the terminal area and also look at the different opportunities there," said Rosemarie Andolino, head of the O'Hare Modernization Program.

Andolino does not expect the airlines to support the $200 million request, but thinks the FAA will grant it anyway this fall.

Phase 2, which is expected to cost $5 billion, on top of the $3.2 billion for Phase 1, includes a runway extension and the new western terminal, which the city plans to complete by 2014. That's two years before Chicago hopes to host the Summer Olympic Games.

Airline consultant Mike Boyd said it makes sense for the preliminary design to look at different options, considering how much the industry is changing.

"It makes sense to look at the role O'Hare is going to play 20 years from now," said Boyd, who says O'Hare must expand to cure delays..........

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[simcityaustin]

New airport building breaks ground this week

By Thomas V. Bona
BusinessRockford.com
Posted Aug 05, 2008 @ 02:53 PM
Last update Aug 05, 2008 @ 05:35 PM

Link to Full Article -> http://www.rrstar.com/news/x90192243...ound-this-week

Excerpt -

ROCKFORD —

Chicago Rockford International Airport is building a home for 747s.

Work is starting this week on a much-anticipated cargo facility that could steal traffic from O’Hare International Airport.

Crews will start laying the foundation for the first building this week, a 70,000-square-foot structure that could handle several large airplanes a day. Ultimately, the project could include 380,000 square feet and bring an estimated $100 million in annual economic impact to the area.

Mayoral aide: City can't afford stained glass windows

Link -> http://www.suntimes.com/news/politic...lass06.article

Excerpt -

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last month that, prior to Rodriguez’s appointment, the Department of Aviation was talking about spending $2 million to bankroll an exhibit of stained glass cabinets made from the extensive window collection of Chicago banking scion E. B. Smith Jr., whose great-grandfather founded the Northern Trust Bank in 1889.

The decision to expand to O’Hare’s three domestic terminals a stained glass exhibit previously confined to the international terminal circumvented the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which selects the art that adorns Chicago’s public buildings.

Today, Rodriguez said he is trying to find a way to scale back the fine art exhibit to a level the city and the airlines can afford.

“I don’t necessarily believe it’s a terrible idea. We have it in T-5. When you walk through our lower lobby to our baggage area, it’s in need of something…I’d like to do a little something. I just don’t know what percentage we could…afford,” the commissioner said.

[simcityaustin]

Judge clears way for O'Hare-area demolition

By Gerry Smith | Chicago Tribune reporter
1:23 PM CDT, August 7, 2008

A DuPage County judge Thursday gave the City of Chicago permission to begin demolition of more than 500 properties in Bensenville that it has purchased to make way for the O'Hare runway expansion.

About 30 families live in the area.

In July, DuPage Circuit Judge Kenneth Popejoy approved a temporary restraining order that halted Chicago's plans to demolish the homes and ordered an environmental study to guard against the release of any hazardous materials during the demolition.

Bensenville officials made a final plea Thursday against demolition.

At a press conference in front of boarded-up houses, Bensenville officials called the project "a runway to nowhere," arguing that the demolition is unnecessary because the city can't afford the project. They also asserted the demolition would spread toxic materials throughout the village.

Bensenville attorney Joseph Karaganis said Tuesday morning they would ask for a continuance of the injunction while they appeal the decision if the judge ruled in Chicago's favor.

Chicago officials have said the construction of a new southern runway at O'Hare is needed to maintain the airport's economic growth.

It remains unclear when Chicago will be able to complete the project. The Daley administration has set a goal of 2014, but the city has failed to win agreement from the major airlines to fund the second phase.

The southern runway that would displace the majority of the Bensenville neighborhood's residents is the final runway in the massive project. In light of the financial pressures on the airline industry, the city may in the future alter its ambitious airfield design, perhaps resulting in the land now being acquired in Bensenville not being needed for runways.

"Why are you going to destroy this beautiful neighborhood when there's never going to be an O'Hare Modernization Program?" asked Bensenville President John C. Geils.

Link - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,5503091.story

[Rail Claimore]

It's not a beautiful neighborhood anymore.

[Mr Man]

About Time!

[ardecila]

Yes, but Bensenville plans to appeal. Time will tell just how far they are willing to go, and how much legal fees they are willing to pay, to halt this demolition.