Quote:
Originally Posted by k1052
Yea but the major airfield work is nearly complete. 9C/27C is under construction so all that really remains is to eventually lengthen 9R/27L which doesn't have to be done immediately. Agreeing to phased improvements has bought the airlines decades of limited competition even if the city did have to waive the western terminal at them a couple times to get them to come along.
Now everybody wants more gates, even AA/UA. Sprit, Frontier, Alaska/Virgin have all expressed interest. It's even possible Southwest could show up at the table since Midway can't accommodate many more flights (though the larger 737 MAX planes will help) and a lot of their arguments for not serving it no longer apply.
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A handful of gates are being built right now and the city is in discussion with UA and AA on a long term vision for the airport. I expect to hear something within the next 6 or so months about what will essentially be OMP 2. Another $5+ billion expansion but this time it will be passenger facilities, not runways. O'Hare passenger numbers are up up up and that means more $$$ to go around.