Where did this come from
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...223-story.html
Chicago, airlines nearing $8.5 billion deal to dramatically expand O'Hare
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago’s airline carriers are in the final stages of negotiating a blockbuster $8.5 billion deal to dramatically expand O’Hare International Airport with a state-of-the-art global terminal, dozens of new gates and several additional concourses, the Chicago Tribune has learned.
The eight-year plan would be the single largest and most expensive terminal revamp in O’Hare’s 73-year history. The goal is to vault the airline hub long known for its gridlock and delays into the 21st century by growing its sluggish number of international flights and creating more room for its domestic carriers.
...
All told, more than 3.1 million square feet of terminal space would be added — a 72 percent increase over the current 4.3 million square feet.
...
The amount of space for planes to park at airline gates would increase by 25 percent, and the total number of gates would jump from 185 today to roughly 220 upon the project’s completion in 2026, Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans confirmed in an exclusive interview with the Tribune.
...
Emanuel declined an interview for this story. Privately, however, he has told business leaders and confidants that the O’Hare overhaul would be a “game changer” for Chicago, a move he has predicted could become one of his top achievements as mayor.
...
The airlines’ incentive for the big spending? More business and better customer service.
United and American, for example, would be located in the Global Terminal with major international partners Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways, British Airways and Japan Airlines. Some “spoke” carriers like Delta, for example, would relocate to what’s now international Terminal 5, where customers easily could connect to KLM, Air France, Korean Air and Aeromexico.
“The non-hub airlines get their own space in Terminal 5, their own entrance, their own hotel, more club room, more paid space, they will be closer to the city. They love that,” said a source familiar with the negotiations who was not authorized to speak about them publicly. “And American and United essentially get a better internationally connecting complex, because to send passengers over to or from Terminal 5 is a pain in the ass. Nobody likes that.
“So, in the end, American, United and the other non-hub airlines all agreed,” the source said. “It gives everyone sort of what they want.”
...
In the airline industry, having domestic and international airlines in the same terminal is known as a “global alliance hub,” Evans said, pointing to London’s Heathrow Airport and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport as the standard. O’Hare would become the first such global alliance hub in the U.S., Evans said.
“My boss, the mayor, has this thing: ‘I don’t just want O’Hare to be bigger, it has to be the best,’ and this is one of the ways we’re going to leapfrog over the other U.S. international terminals,” Evans said.
...
Prev
Linear Mode
