A plan to expand O'Hare International Airport has begun to look more promising, but
backers of a proposed airport near Peotone said last week they don't expect the plan to
change the debate over a third airport.
"It's still not going to add air capacity, and won't solve their long-range problem," said
Don Goff, chairman of the Third Airport Alliance.
"I don't see it as any setback," he said of the plan to build more terminals and gates.
Goff said that even if O'Hare expansion proponents later use the World Gateway project
to justify building more runways, a third airport will still be needed.
"They're still going to have to build another airport," Goff said.
But those who hope plans for an airport near rural Peotone will be scrapped see the plan
as a sign of hope.
"I'm very happy about that," said Jill Holzaepfel of Peotone, who said she hopes the planes
and traffic stay close to the city.
"I chose to live out here on the farmland," she said, adding that those who are impacted by
more noise and pollution at an expanding O'Hare chose to live near the airport.
Some Peotone opponents propose expanding the airport in Gary, Ind., or building at
another site.
The major airlines that serve O'Hare International Airport and city officials reached a
tentative agreement to move ahead with a $3.2 billion renovation at the world's second
busiest airport, a city spokeswoman said.
Mayor Richard Daley has called the project the "World Gateway Program." It has
involved months of negotiations between the city and the two major carriers that serve
O'Hare — United Airlines and American Airlines.
"Right now, we have an agreement in principle," Chicago Department of Aviation
spokeswoman Monique Bond said Friday night. "We feel confident that we're moving
forward and we are pretty optimistic about the finality of the agreement."
The renovation, which is expected to take eight years to complete, is expected to increase
the number of boarding gates by at least 25 percent. It is also intended to increase the
number of flights and make connections in and out of the airport smoother.
"This is basically what we are doing to better use the existing facility with more
efficiency," Bond said. She said the redesign will help accommodate the airlines' increased
use of larger planes, such as the Boeing 777.
While Bond would not confirm the number of new gates involved, a report appearing in
next week's Crain's Chicago Business cites sources familiar with the negotiations saying
the plan calls for as many as 32 new gates, including 10 each for American and United,
Crain's said in a news release issued Friday night.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that the agreement calls for eight new gates for
each of the two airlines.
The city has agreed to contribute more airline passenger tax money to the project, sell
United 50 additional acres of airport property near its planned headquarters at a
below-market price, and phase in part of the work, the Sun-Times reported.
In exchange, United and American have agreed to a system in which they no longer have
exclusive control over gates. Each would get eight "preferential" gates in the new
terminals, but wouldn't keep them if they didn't use them, according to the Sun-Times'
report.
Chicago Aviation Commissioner Thomas Walker described the plan as "the basic concept
that was described over a year ago."
The renovation also will include new federal inspection facilities in domestic terminals to
give travelers a "seamless transition from domestic to international terminals" for
travelers," Bond said.
Bond did know when the deal would be made final.
The O'Hare expansion plans are being made even as some groups continue to push for a
new regional airport in Chicago's southern suburbs, an idea that has not won the support
of major airlines. The city also is building a new terminal at Midway Airport on the
Southwest Side.
O'Hare handled 894,611 flights and 72 million passengers in 1999, second only to
Atlanta's Hartsfield airport's 909,911 flights and 77.9 million passengers.