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"ORD" redirects here. For other uses, see Ord.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport (IATA: ORD, ICAO: KORD, FAA LID: ORD) is an airport located in Chicago, Illinois, United States, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of the Chicago Loop. It is the largest hub of United Airlines (whose headquarters will soon move from nearby Elk Grove Township to downtown Chicago) and the second-largest hub of American Airlines (after Dallas/Fort Worth). It is operated by the City of Chicago Department of Aviation, associated with an umbrella regional authority.
O’Hare International Airport was voted the Best Airport in North America for the past nine years by readers of the U.S. Edition of Business Traveler Magazine (1998 - 2003), and Global Traveler Magazine (2004 - 2006), marking nine years in a row O'Hare has earned top honor. [6] Although O'Hare is Chicago's chief airport, Chicago Midway International Airport, the city's secondary airport, is narrowly closer to the Loop, the main business and financial district.
HistoryThe airport was constructed in 1942-43 as a manufacturing plant for Douglas C-54s during World War II. The site was chosen for its proximity to the city and transportation. The two million square-foot (180,000 m²) factory needed easy access to the workforce of the nation's then-second-largest city, as well as its extensive railroad infrastructure. Orchard Place was a small pre-existing community in the area, and the airport was known during the war as Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (hence the callsign ORD). The facility was also the site of the Army Air Force's 803 Special Depot, which stored many rare or experimental planes, including captured enemy aircraft. These historic aircraft would later be transferred to the National Air Museum, going on to form the core of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's collection. Image:Towers2566.JPG The new FAA control tower (right) opened in early 1997. The old tower (left) is now used by the City of Chicago, to manage city vehicles engaged in ground operations.
By the early 1950s, Chicago Midway International Airport, which had been the primary Chicago airport since 1931, had become too small and crowded despite multiple expansions and was unable to handle the planned first generation of jets. The City of Chicago and FAA began to develop O'Hare as the main airport for Chicago's future. The first commercial passenger flights were started there in 1955, and an international terminal was built in 1958, but the majority of domestic traffic did not move from Midway until completion of a 1962 expansion of O'Hare. The arrival of Midway's former traffic instantly made O'Hare the new World's Busiest Airport, serving 10 million passengers annually. Within two years that number would double, with more people passing through O'Hare in 12 months than Ellis Island had processed in its entire existence. In 1997, annual passenger volume reached 70 million; it is now approaching 80 million. O'Hare Airport is municipally connected to the city of Chicago via a narrow strip of land, approximatly 200 feet wide, running along Foster Ave from the Des Plaines river to the airport. This land was added to the city limits in the 1950s to assure the airport was contiguous with the city to keep it under city control. The strip is bounded on the north by Rosemont and the south by Schiller Park.[1] The CTA Blue Line was extended to the airport in 1984. IncidentsOn May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed upon takeoff en route to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California from Chicago, killing all 271 people on board and two people on the ground. The crash remains the deadliest single-aircraft crash in United States history. On October 8, 2001, on American Airlines Flight 1238, en route from Los Angeles to Chicago, a man with severe mental problems stormed the cockpit 40 minutes before landing in Chicago, causing the plane to drop sharply and causing a panic. In light of the fear ignited by 9/11, flight crew and passengers were quick to wrestle the man to the ground and subdue him. Additionally, a distress signal was sent by the pilots, causing two F-16s to race at supersonic speeds to intercept and escort the aircraft to O'Hare International Airport. This caused a sonic boom in Chicagoland's Northwest Suburbs, startling millions of residents. [2] On May 8, 2002, alleged Al-Qaida member Jose Padilla was arrested after his plane landed at the airport for allegedly being a scout for a plot to plant a dirty bomb. On the afternoon of November 7, 2006, a group of United Airlines workers including senior management as well as airline pilots reported seeing a saucer-shaped craft[7]. Cargo handlers says the object hovered over them before shooting up through clouds. The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged that a United supervisor had called the control tower at O'Hare, asking if anyone had spotted a spinning disc-shaped object. But the controllers didn't see anything, and a preliminary check of radar found nothing out of the ordinary. The FAA concluded that no such object existed. Modernization planO'Hare's high volume and crowded schedule can lead to cancellations and long delays that affect air travel across the United States. Official reports rank O'Hare as the least punctual airport in the United States based on percentage of delayed flights. In 2004, United Airlines and American Airlines agreed to modify their schedules to help reduce congestion caused by clustered arrivals and departures. Because of the air traffic departing, arriving, and near the airport, air traffic controllers at O'Hare and its nearby facilities are some of the hardest working in the world in terms of number of controlled flights per hour. City management has committed to a $6 billion capital investment plan to increase the airport's capacity by 60% and decrease delays by an estimated 79 percent[3]. This plan was approved by the FAA in October 2005 and will involve a reconfiguration of the airfield and addition of terminal space. Four runways will be added and three decommissioned in order to give the airfield an eight-runway parallel configuration similar to those in Dallas. This plan is essential to O'Hare in alleviating the airport's flight limits so O'Hare will not be eclipsed by other airports in terms of passenger numbers in the future. The Modernization Plan is already under construction after long delays, and the first new runway of the plan is slated to be complete in 2008-2009. Terminals 3 and 5 will undergo expansion, and a new west terminal is planned with western access into the airport; however, some land acquisition is necessary, requiring approximately 2,800 residents to be relocated. The program will expand the airport's capacity to over 3,800 operations per day, up from the present capacity of 2,700 and will vastly increase passenger throughput capacity: existing runway new runway removed runway
Resistance and alternativesThe neighboring communities of Bensenville and Elk Grove Village have been centers of resistance to the expansion plan. As a result of the expansion, some residents and businesses will be required to relocate. Bensenville and Elk Grove Village formed the Suburban O'Hare Commission [4] to fight the expansion. So far, they have not had much success, but the commission did receive a temporary injunction against the city's expansion project that was approved by the FAA; however, the injunction was quickly overturned. The Suburban O'Hare Commission has also been instrumental in pushing for a third regional airport called Abraham Lincoln National Airport in south suburban Peotone, which they claim would alleviate the problems at O'Hare. However, no airline has signed on for the proposed airport. In 1995 the Chicago/Gary Airport Compact was signed by the cities of Chicago and Gary, Indiana, creating the governing body of the Gary/Chicago International Airport just across the state line. While markedly smaller than the proposed Peotone site, this airport already has more land than Midway and an active runway longer than the longest at Midway Airport, and is miles closer to the population in greatest need of access to air transport. While Chicago would like to see a strong Gary airport, the state of Illinois does not appear interested in expanding an airport across state lines. However, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has provided significant funding for a runway expansion that is currently under construction; the FAA has also approved Gary as the new Chicago airport; regardless of O’Hare expansion, the FAA feels it necessary to expand Gary. Chicago/Rockford International Airport (RFD) in Rockford, IL has recently made a big push in being an alternative to relieve congestion at O'Hare. Although Rockford is just up the Northwest Tollway from O'Hare, it is about a two hour trip from the Chicago Loop. Currently there is no direct transportation service from Downtown Chicago or O'Hare to the Chicago/Rockford International Airport, but airline service at the airport continues to grow. Larry Morrissey, the current mayor of Rockford, has pushed since being elected for a high-speed rail connection between the two airports to further make the Rockford airport an alternative to O'Hare. General Mitchell International Airport (MKE) in Milwaukee, WI has consistently attempted to increase its usage by Chicago and Northern Illinois customers. There is a direct Amtrak rail connecting Chicago from Mitchell Airport. The trains operate 7 round trips each day, taking under 75 min. from the Chicago loop. Terminals, airlines and destinationsO'Hare International has four passenger terminals. Two or more additional terminal buildings are envisioned. There is the possibility of a large terminal complex for the west side of the field, with access from I-90 and/or the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, if the runway reconfiguration is completed. Terminal 1 (United Airlines Terminal)Note: International Arrivals are handled in Terminal 5. Image:O'Hare Terminal 1.jpg Image:Concourse.JPG Image:OHare Airpot Terminal One B to C Tunnel.jpg Concourse B
Concourse C
The original 1955 passenger terminal for international flights, was replaced with the modern Terminal 1, designed by Helmut Jahn, in 1987. Terminal 2Concourse E
Concourse F
Terminal 2 was built in a large airport expansion in 1962, along with the original portion of Terminal 3. Terminal 3Note: International Arrivals are handled in Terminal 5. Image:Aaa.jpg Image:Terminal 3.jpg Concourse G
Concourse H
Concourse K
Concourse L
Terminal 3 was also built in the 1962 capital program. It was significantly expanded in 1983, with the construction of Concourse L. It is currently undergoing renovation, scheduled to run from January 2004 to Late Fall 2007. Terminal 4Terminal 4 was O'Hare's interim international terminal from 1984 until 1993, located on the ground floor of the main parking garage. International passengers would check in at Terminal 4 and be taken directly to their aircraft by bus. Since the opening of Terminal 5, Terminal 4 has been changed into the airport's facility for CTA buses, hotel shuttles, and other ground transportation. The T4 designation will be used again in the future as new terminals are developed. Terminal 5 (International Terminal)Image:Ohareterminal5.png International Terminal Note: Terminal 5 handles all international arrivals at O'Hare (excluding airports with border preclearance), as well as the following departing flights: Concourse M
Cargo carriers
FacilitiesRunwaysImage:ORD airport map.PNG Runway layout at ORD There are 6 primary air carrier runways, arranged tangentially in 3 pairs of parallel sets. The largest is Runway 14R-32L, 13,000' x 200'. Runways 14L, 14R, 27L and 27R have Category III ILS (Instrument Landing System). All other runways except 4L have full ILS. All but one of O'Hare's runways intersect, which can create problems in times of inclement weather, congestion at the airport, or wind. Also, since most of the runways intersect, controllers must wait until a runway is free of traffic before they can clear another plane to use an intersecting runway. When a controller fails to do this, the results could possibly be a runway incursion, where planes come within a few hundred feet of each other and/or collide on the runways. There have been several near- aircraft collisions at O'Hare in recent years. The proposed redevelopment would alleviate most of this problem at O'Hare. Three runways of the original 1943 airfield's four have been upgraded to modern standards. Additional runways were constructed in 1955, 1968, and 1971. In 2003, old Runway 18-36 was permanently closed -- its short length and problematic placement no longer justified its continued certification. Runway 18-36 is now shown as taxiway GG on current airport charts. The proposed redevelopment would entail removal of the 2 northwest-southeast runways, construction of 4 additional east-west runways, and extension of the 2 existing east-west runways. The two existing northeast-southwest runways would be retained. Runway 32L is sometimes used for departures in a shortened configuration. Planes access the runway from its intersection at taxiway T10 (common) or taxiway M (not common). This shortens the effective length of the runway but allows operations on runway 9R-27L to continue. Due to a noise abatement program, O'Hare is obliged to use only one runway during the hours between midnight and 6AM. The proposed runway re-configuration program at O'Hare would also prepare the airport for the A380 Super-Jumbo aircraft. The runways would be strengthened and/or widened to accommodate the new jumbo aircraft. Transit
Other facilitiesA large air cargo complex on the southwest side of the field was opened in 1984, replacing most of the old cargo area, which stood where Terminal 5 now exists. The original Douglas plant on the northeast side evolved into an Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve facility, but this was closed in 1998 and is now being redeveloped for cargo and general aviation. Signature Flight Support services private aircraft in this area. The hangar area has multiple buildings capable of fully enclosing aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 747. Popular cultureO'Hare has been referenced by many movies, TV shows and songs
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