Big Challenges Ahead for Chicago's O'Hare Airport

After spending $10 billion since 2005 on capital improvements, Chicago's O'Hare is still losing business to competitors along with the battle of public opinion.

1 minute read

June 26, 2015, 8:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


An in-depth profile of Ginger Evans, Chicago's new aviation commissioner, reveals details about the tough challenges facing one of the nation's busiest airports—not the least of which is a growing discontent among its neighbors.

In fact, "[a] record number of noise complaints about new flight patterns at O'Hare, which use new east-west runways, have been logged this year," reports Jon Hilkevitch.

Evans delivers bad news on that front, as she's quoted directly in the story, saying: "People 10 miles away from the airport, I can tell you right now today that there probably is not much I can do for them…"

Additional subjects of the article include flight delays and congestion. Evans told Hilkevitch that the "next phase of the O'Hare overhaul must go beyond, even possibly significantly alter, the airfield expansion project that began in 2005 and has cost more than $10 billion to date…"

Thursday, June 25, 2015 in Chicago Tribune

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