muralir wrote:

chicawgo wrote:

April numbers just posted!

https://www.flychicago.com/SiteCollecti ... UMMARY.pdf

Already strong performance seems to be increasing even more!

Total pax up 5% in April yielding YTD up 4.4%

Most amazing to me is movements are really strong! Up 6.5% in April and YTD up 4.6%. That seems to be coming primarily from domestic movements up 7% in April and up 4.9% YTD.

I imagine this summer will only bring even higher increases!

Even more impressive is that movements are up even with strong upguaging: the 4.9% YTD includes a 7% growth in air carrier and a -5% shrink of commuter ops. I'm assuming commuter refers to the regional aircraft?

The international is still a bit of a mystery to me: -4% shrink in ops and +10% growth in passengers means loads must be *way* up. This either means in the next year, we should expect to see more new route announcements, or that T5 really is so congested that airlines haven't been able to add capacity like they normally would with massive passenger growth like that...

Yes, the commuter is regional. As far as I remember- its broken down by operator (ie Skywest, Gojet, etc). Its been a while since I have seen the categorization.

International is prob loads. The airline breakdown could provide clarity to answer that.

I also want to point out that in the 3-5 months after a new carrier is added to ORD, the reports are not accurate in terms of their categorization. I remember them reporting Eva as a Cargo airline for a while.

Really wish I had the airline detail still.

yeogeo wrote:

Southwest announces MDW-CSL.


Chicago Dept. Of Aviation email

timberwolf24 wrote:

WN will also be adding MDW-BUR.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-release ... 57031.html

Nice. Two more news pieces I can add to my Linkedin

yeogeo wrote:

If I'm not mistaken, on Saturday ET starts ADD-ORD (or more accurately, ADD-DUB-ORD; ORD-ADD starts on Sunday).
The flight is scheduled to arrive at 20hrs30 - in hopefully some good light for the spotters.
I wonder if they'll get a water canon salute?

timberwolf24 wrote:

The ET flight arrives ORD at 755a Sunday morning. With a 955a departure.

For Pete's sake - now we have the Chicago Business Journal saying the ET flight arrives in Chicago on Monday.
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/new ... j=82048351
...and yes, they confirm a water canon salute (and a cake).

I'll go with ET's own published schedule (which Timberwolf correctly read): as arriving on Sunday the 10th and departing for ADD on the same day: depart ADD on Sat at 22hrs15, arriving ORD Sunday at 07hrs55, after a 1 hour tech stop in DUB.
Departs ORD on Sunday at 09hrs 55, arriving ADD at 07hrs40 on Monday.
https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/corpo ... detail/928

Best of luck to Ethiopian on the route!!

In doing a little more research prompted by the Tribune also mentioning that the first ET flight from Chicago to Addis Ababa departs Monday, I find that the posted schedule on its website for departures from ORD has changed from Wed/Fri/Sun (as posted by ET when announcing the route), to Mon/Wed/Sat.

Haven't found any announcement from ET about this change, but there you go. Welcome Ethiopian, better late than never!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

It does seem they did change the schedule as Flightradar24 is showin the first ET ADD—DUB-ORD flight departing ADD on Sunday 6/10 and arriving ORD Monday 6/11.

A bit of news about the O'Hare 21 project in the Sun Times: a Request for Qualifications.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/rahm- ... new-ohare/

In about 10 days City Hall plans to issue a RFQ for LEAD Architectural Design Services for the massive project.

In a city known internationally for its outstanding architecture, Emanuel said it only makes sense to challenge architects from around the world to envision the new O’Hare.

“This is an opportunity to write the next chapter in Chicago’s legacy of architectural ingenuity while sharing the iconic architecture and design Chicago is famous for with visitors from across the country and around the world,” the mayor is quoted as saying.

yeogeo wrote:

A bit of news about the O'Hare 21 project in the Sun Times: a Request for Qualifications.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/rahm- ... new-ohare/

In about 10 days City Hall plans to issue a RFQ for LEAD Architectural Design Services for the massive project.

In a city known internationally for its outstanding architecture, Emanuel said it only makes sense to challenge architects from around the world to envision the new O’Hare.

“This is an opportunity to write the next chapter in Chicago’s legacy of architectural ingenuity while sharing the iconic architecture and design Chicago is famous for with visitors from across the country and around the world,” the mayor is quoted as saying.

Heh, I cannot wait to see how this turns out.

Feeling like it will become BER 2.0 ....

nmdrdh787 wrote:

Heh, I cannot wait to see how this turns out.

I'm hoping for the best... and that eventually some professionals will take charge making this bus screw-up seem like an awkward first step.

nmdrdh787 wrote:

yeogeo wrote:

A bit of news about the O'Hare 21 project in the Sun Times: a Request for Qualifications.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/rahm- ... new-ohare/

In about 10 days City Hall plans to issue a RFQ for LEAD Architectural Design Services for the massive project.

In a city known internationally for its outstanding architecture, Emanuel said it only makes sense to challenge architects from around the world to envision the new O’Hare.

“This is an opportunity to write the next chapter in Chicago’s legacy of architectural ingenuity while sharing the iconic architecture and design Chicago is famous for with visitors from across the country and around the world,” the mayor is quoted as saying.

Heh, I cannot wait to see how this turns out.

Feeling like it will become BER 2.0 ....

I'm sure this project is going to attract some world-class star-architects. There are some amazing supertalls and near-supertalls under construction and planned for the city; and if Chicago wasn't already on the architectural map, the Chicago Architecture biannual has truly become a global tour de force in its relatively short history. This importance of this project is clearly not lost on the CDA or the mayor's office.

I have faith the CDA will do right by the city, Chicagoans, and future travelers alike.

yeogeo wrote:

nmdrdh787 wrote:

Heh, I cannot wait to see how this turns out.

I'm hoping for the best... and that eventually some professionals will take charge making this bus screw-up seem like an awkward first step.

The ATS bus screw up?

ORDfan wrote:

nmdrdh787 wrote:

yeogeo wrote:

A bit of news about the O'Hare 21 project in the Sun Times: a Request for Qualifications.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/rahm- ... new-ohare/

In about 10 days City Hall plans to issue a RFQ for LEAD Architectural Design Services for the massive project.

In a city known internationally for its outstanding architecture, Emanuel said it only makes sense to challenge architects from around the world to envision the new O’Hare.

“This is an opportunity to write the next chapter in Chicago’s legacy of architectural ingenuity while sharing the iconic architecture and design Chicago is famous for with visitors from across the country and around the world,” the mayor is quoted as saying.

Heh, I cannot wait to see how this turns out.

Feeling like it will become BER 2.0 ....

I'm sure this project is going to attract some world-class star-architects. There are some amazing supertalls and near-supertalls under construction and planned for the city; and if Chicago wasn't already on the architectural map, the Chicago Architecture biannual has truly become a global tour de force in its relatively short history. This importance of this project is clearly not lost on the CDA or the mayor's office.

I have faith the CDA will do right by the city, Chicagoans, and future travelers alike.

I was joking, but I feel it will do the same.

I’ve posted this before... once airlines were onboard, every runway has been built early and under budget in the OMP. They’ve honestly done a great job with that and I’m hopeful it will be the same with the terminals since the airlines have agreed. There’s reason to be optimistic.

This is what T5 looks like this summer in terms of gate utilization. For the afternoon peak hours, some aircraft (especially those that have long ground time at ORD) are towed to a remote stand after unloading and are brought back an hour or so before departure as has been the case for years. Other aircraft are, of course, towed over to T1 or T3 for departure. You'll note gates M6 and M14 seem underutilized - this is because they are unusable when widebody aircraft are parked at either or both of the adjoining gates. They tend not to use M14 at all.

Caveat: I do not work at ORD so this may not be 100% accurate - it is based on my own observations of gate usage by airlines at T5 and the data used is taken from a random Monday in July 2018. Arrival/departure times are rounded to the nearest :00 or :30.

AmricanShamrok wrote:

This is what T5 looks like this summer in terms of gate utilization.

Thanks for the updated chart, Shamrok. Have always enjoyed seeing this information over the years!

Since Frontier is moving to T5 i do wonder which gates they are planning to use.

Does anyone know if or where Sliver Airways gate will be? Will it share with United Gates?

AmricanShamrok wrote:

This is what T5 looks like this summer in terms of gate utilization. For the afternoon peak hours, some aircraft (especially those that have long ground time at ORD) are towed to a remote stand after unloading and are brought back an hour or so before departure as has been the case for years. Other aircraft are, of course, towed over to T1 or T3 for departure. You'll note gates M6 and M14 seem underutilized - this is because they are unusable when widebody aircraft are parked at either or both of the adjoining gates. They tend not to use M14 at all.

Caveat: I do not work at ORD so this may not be 100% accurate - it is based on my own observations of gate usage by airlines at T5 and the data used is taken from a random Monday in July 2018. Arrival/departure times are rounded to the nearest :00 or :30.

This seems reasonably accurate for not working at ORD (literally the same type of template that I have seen for the official utilization charts).

Midway737 wrote:

Since Frontier is moving to T5 i do wonder which gates they are planning to use.

Does anyone know if or where Sliver Airways gate will be? Will it share with United Gates?

Since its a UA codeshare, I would assume they would be in T2 or 1.

Looks like the city is having a design competition for the new Global Terminal

http://abc7chicago.com/travel/city-laun ... t/3585871/
and
https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/d ... OJECT.html

ZBA2CGX wrote:

Looks like the city is having a design competition for the new Global Terminal

http://abc7chicago.com/travel/city-laun ... t/3585871/
and
https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/d ... OJECT.html

Actually, this is an architecture firm for the entire plan, so the first buildings we would see from this would be Satellites 1 & 2, then the OGT. I wonder if this firm automatically would do makeovers on existing 1 & 3, or will UA/AA get involved in those, respectively? (The money to redo existing 1 & 3 isn't in the TAP; presumably, the respective tenants are going to work that out in combo with the new plan and the city.)

FWIW, my predictions: Gensler, SOM, and Perkins + Will should be shoo-ins to make submissions; JAHN as darkhorse, maybe HOK, too... but I don't see a lot of around-the-world submissions coming, simply because it's not like you get to redesign the airport: you're building additions. The greatest statement any architect can make would be the OGT, and that's in the back, hidden by a garage (and there's no room on the airfield for some grand gesture there). As a far more practical concern, the city (and mayor) needs this thing to get going sooner rather than later, and you have to keep traditional bitter rivals happy throughout the design process -- and design by committee usually sucks. I just hope it does a superb practical job and isn't ugly.

Any pictures of the ET innagurial tiday?

Now that Chicago has 6 continents, how about a *A RTW hitting all Six Continents To/From ORD.

Note Ethiopian is the key to this trip but they don't start SVO until September 2018



United ORD-GRU
Ethiopian GRU-ADD
Ethiopian ADD-SVO
Air China SVO-PEK
Air China PEK-AKL
Air New Zealand AKL-ORD

Nice short O'Hare video, time-lapse from tower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXv3VG5w3NI

Well worth a minute eighteen, IMO.

Best I could get of the ET inaugural. Didn't park in a very good gate to show off this AM haha

nomorerjs wrote:

Any pictures of the ET innagurial tiday?

Here are some official photos from the Trib:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/photos/ct ... llery.html

UALORD wrote:

Best I could get of the ET inaugural.

Made my day! Thanks UALORD

Not sure if anyone is interested, but the non-3D aerial image of ORD has been updated on Google maps. My guess is the imagery was taken in early spring, as I notice a WOW aircraft parked remotely near T5. Thought I remembered a mechanical issue that required it to be parked there, but couldn't remember when. Always fun the check the image for updates around the field. 9C/27C seems to be moving along nicely.

Also, had my first experience with the busing operation from the remote lots to the terminal core yesterday. While the time of day I was on them (4am, and 1130pm) is not representative of when the majority of people travel I found the experience to be decent. Even if the buses ran perfectly it still wouldn't be as efficient as the ATS, but overall not too bad. I fear trying to board a bus at 6pm on a Sunday might be a different story.

sircygnus wrote:

Not sure if anyone is interested, but the non-3D aerial image of ORD has been updated on Google maps.

I am interested, thank you. But, I just went to Google Maps and can only see the old 3D aerial. How can I set it to see the new non-3D one?

EDIT: Nevermind, just found it. Go to the "hamburger" drop down icon at the top left and click "3D off".

Some new things:

Concourse "L" stinger gates! (Essentially done, talk about squeezed in)
ATS Extension and Rental Car Facility (Almost finished)
Construction of runway 9C/27C and associated taxiways (Well underway)
New AA hanger (almost done)
Northeast cargo facility (done and in use)
Building east of T5 (gone, ready for T5 expansion)
Runway 10R/28L (done and in use)
Our last view of runway 15/33 since it is now closed
Earthwork happening in the Western Terminal area... not sure what this is?
Construction of new facilities to the northwest of taxiway Z (is this a new UA hanger?)

Just want to say thanks to the posters keeping this thread current. Good to see it continuing to show up!

United787 wrote:

Earthwork happening in the Western Terminal area... not sure what this is?

Way back somewhere in this thread I asked where the new de-icing pads will be and this area was the site, although obviously not the whole area - there seems to be a lot going on around there..

Has the Terminal 5 expansion broken ground yet?

There are 2 articles today on new access to ORD. The 1st one will happen and 2nd is still a big gamble on technology.

1) Western access route approved:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-b ... story.html

2) Elon Musk’s Boring Company selected for express service to ORD:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

chidino wrote:

Nice short O'Hare video, time-lapse from tower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXv3VG5w3NI

Well worth a minute eighteen, IMO.

yeogeo wrote:

UALORD wrote:

Best I could get of the ET inaugural.

Made my day! Thanks UALORD

These make me so happy. Loving that the efforts I had a hand in are now delivering results such as this. More fodder for the Linkedin...

Planeboy17 wrote:

Just want to say thanks to the posters keeping this thread current. Good to see it continuing to show up!

Ditto. Keeps me in the loop on things that I used to be knowledgeable about.

FromGSPtoChi wrote:

There are 2 articles today on new access to ORD. The 1st one will happen and 2nd is still a big gamble on technology.

1) Western access route approved:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-b ... story.html

2) Elon Musk’s Boring Company selected for express service to ORD:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... story.html

I hope the tunnel goes through...

Rahm announced it from the shell of Block 37. To prove he can fix a Daley mistake, or a portend of the success of this project?

But... if it works, with runways done and new terminals: I'm not going for any superlatives, just that the only thing left we'd have to apologize for is the weather. Everything else will be pretty great by any measure. (And I don't think the Boring tunnel is a necessity, but it sure would be nice.)

nmdrdh787 wrote:

I hope the tunnel goes through...

I really hope it does too, but I have a really hard time taking Mr. Musk seriously. He has some brilliant ideas, but most never come to fruition. I think this is doable, but I fear it will get tied up in Chicago politics and lawsuits.

If this gets done along with O'Hare 21, then ORD is really going to be a state of the art airport again. Long overdue for an airport that was long neglected due to political infighting.

ADrum23 wrote:

nmdrdh787 wrote:

I hope the tunnel goes through...

I really hope it does too, but I have a really hard time taking Mr. Musk seriously. He has some brilliant ideas, but most never come to fruition. I think this is doable, but I fear it will get tied up in Chicago politics and lawsuits.

If this gets done along with O'Hare 21, then ORD is really going to be a state of the art airport again. Long overdue for an airport that was long neglected due to political infighting.

I doubt it will ever be done. The biggest obstacle is going around the Deep Tunnel Project.

Midway737 wrote:

Since Frontier is moving to T5 i do wonder which gates they are planning to use.

I actually flew out of T5 on Frontier recently and we boarded using gate M2. Since our flight was early in the morning there were only two or three other planes at the other gates so Frontier could've really used any of the gates, but I'm assuming they'll be sticking to the smaller gates of T5 (M1-M3, maybe M18 and M20?). On the return trip we deboarded at gate M20 mostly because all the other gates were full as it was around 3 pm and the transatlantic bound flights were getting prepped and deboarded/boarded.

AmricanShamrok wrote:

This is what T5 looks like this summer in terms of gate utilization. For the afternoon peak hours, some aircraft (especially those that have long ground time at ORD) are towed to a remote stand after unloading and are brought back an hour or so before departure as has been the case for years. Other aircraft are, of course, towed over to T1 or T3 for departure. You'll note gates M6 and M14 seem underutilized - this is because they are unusable when widebody aircraft are parked at either or both of the adjoining gates. They tend not to use M14 at all.

Caveat: I do not work at ORD so this may not be 100% accurate - it is based on my own observations of gate usage by airlines at T5 and the data used is taken from a random Monday in July 2018. Arrival/departure times are rounded to the nearest :00 or :30.

sircygnus wrote:

Not sure if anyone is interested, but the non-3D aerial image of ORD has been updated on Google maps. My guess is the imagery was taken in early spring, as I notice a WOW aircraft parked remotely near T5.

It looks like M14 no longer exists just by looking at the updated non-3D aerial image of O'Hare that sircygnus mentioned. If you look at the markings on the taxiway, it skips from M13 to M15. I think they got rid of it when they converted gate M11 to be able to handle the A380, or maybe even earlier, not sure.

airborneX0101 wrote:

AmricanShamrok wrote:

This is what T5 looks like this summer in terms of gate utilization. For the afternoon peak hours, some aircraft (especially those that have long ground time at ORD) are towed to a remote stand after unloading and are brought back an hour or so before departure as has been the case for years. Other aircraft are, of course, towed over to T1 or T3 for departure. You'll note gates M6 and M14 seem underutilized - this is because they are unusable when widebody aircraft are parked at either or both of the adjoining gates. They tend not to use M14 at all.

Caveat: I do not work at ORD so this may not be 100% accurate - it is based on my own observations of gate usage by airlines at T5 and the data used is taken from a random Monday in July 2018. Arrival/departure times are rounded to the nearest :00 or :30.

sircygnus wrote:

Not sure if anyone is interested, but the non-3D aerial image of ORD has been updated on Google maps. My guess is the imagery was taken in early spring, as I notice a WOW aircraft parked remotely near T5.

It looks like M14 no longer exists just by looking at the updated non-3D aerial image of O'Hare that sircygnus mentioned. If you look at the markings on the taxiway, it skips from M13 to M15. I think they got rid of it when they converted gate M11 to be able to handle the A380, or maybe even earlier, not sure.

I didn't deal with ORD engineering but this could be true.

airborneX0101 wrote:

Midway737 wrote:

Since Frontier is moving to T5 i do wonder which gates they are planning to use.

I actually flew out of T5 on Frontier recently and we boarded using gate M2. Since our flight was early in the morning there were only two or three other planes at the other gates so Frontier could've really used any of the gates, but I'm assuming they'll be sticking to the smaller gates of T5 (M1-M3, maybe M18 and M20?). On the return trip we deboarded at gate M20 mostly because all the other gates were full as it was around 3 pm and the transatlantic bound flights were getting prepped and deboarded/boarded.

The single-numbered gates, yes. Not M18/20, because east side of T5 is arrivals only.

nmdrdh787 wrote:

airborneX0101 wrote:

AmricanShamrok wrote:

This is what T5 looks like this summer in terms of gate utilization. For the afternoon peak hours, some aircraft (especially those that have long ground time at ORD) are towed to a remote stand after unloading and are brought back an hour or so before departure as has been the case for years. Other aircraft are, of course, towed over to T1 or T3 for departure. You'll note gates M6 and M14 seem underutilized - this is because they are unusable when widebody aircraft are parked at either or both of the adjoining gates. They tend not to use M14 at all.

Caveat: I do not work at ORD so this may not be 100% accurate - it is based on my own observations of gate usage by airlines at T5 and the data used is taken from a random Monday in July 2018. Arrival/departure times are rounded to the nearest :00 or :30.

sircygnus wrote:

Not sure if anyone is interested, but the non-3D aerial image of ORD has been updated on Google maps. My guess is the imagery was taken in early spring, as I notice a WOW aircraft parked remotely near T5.

It looks like M14 no longer exists just by looking at the updated non-3D aerial image of O'Hare that sircygnus mentioned. If you look at the markings on the taxiway, it skips from M13 to M15. I think they got rid of it when they converted gate M11 to be able to handle the A380, or maybe even earlier, not sure.

I didn't deal with ORD engineering but this could be true.

Nope, it went away when the fleet mix changed from 767, 747, M80 and MD11 to what we have currently.

It went 13a, 14, 15, 15a, 16, 16a, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.

Actually, it's not a bad chart.

chidino wrote:

airborneX0101 wrote:

Midway737 wrote:

Since Frontier is moving to T5 i do wonder which gates they are planning to use.

I actually flew out of T5 on Frontier recently and we boarded using gate M2. Since our flight was early in the morning there were only two or three other planes at the other gates so Frontier could've really used any of the gates, but I'm assuming they'll be sticking to the smaller gates of T5 (M1-M3, maybe M18 and M20?). On the return trip we deboarded at gate M20 mostly because all the other gates were full as it was around 3 pm and the transatlantic bound flights were getting prepped and deboarded/boarded.

The single-numbered gates, yes. Not M18/20, because east side of T5 is arrivals only.

Departures are run out of all gates. Although there's a logistical issue with M1, 2 and 3 and 19, 20 and 21 with crossovers.

ADrum23 wrote:

I think this is doable, but I fear it will get tied up in Chicago politics and lawsuits.

If this gets done along with O'Hare 21, then ORD is really going to be a state of the art airport again. Long overdue for an airport that was long neglected due to political infighting.

I think just the opposite. I think it is because of Chicago politics that this thing has a far greater chance of getting done over many other cities. City Council has been a rubber stamp to the Mayor since the early 90s, under King Daley and continues under Rahmbo, despite his failings. When the City (or other agency) wants something, it pulls out all of the stops and will fight hard and dirty to get it done, sometimes despite enormous opposition and obstacles, some major examples:

Midway Airport Complete Reconfiguration: Done

Millennium Park: Done and now a tourism money printing machine. But way over budget and delayed but that was due to construction starting before they really knew what the park was going to be and then Daley adding new trophy elements to the roof at every step of the way.

Soldier Field: Done - Major Opposition and Lawsuits

McCormick Place Expansions: Done

Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (Deep Tunnel): Mostly Done

O'Hare Airport Modernization Plan (Runway Reconfiguration) - Almost Done - Major Opposition and Lawsuits

Chicago is far from perfect and has lots of problems but it has a way of getting major construction projects completed.

Wags69 wrote:

I doubt it will ever be done. The biggest obstacle is going around the Deep Tunnel Project.

Why? It would probably only need to cross the deep tunnel once around Randolph and the River. The deep tunnel could be as deep as 350' and is at most 33' diameter. I am pretty confident they know exactly where it is and how to miss it. It would run parallel to it from roughly Chicago Ave. to Belmont Ave. but again, shouldn't be an issue.

I am more worried about all of the bridge pylons that they will need to go under. I think the Board of Underground will be more concerned with those. I am guessing that is why it isn't going under 90/94 but instead running parallel to it.

It sounds like the terminus would be T2 which is perfect. I think they should consider two more stops (or spurs) as part of phase 1:

-T5: If pax wanting to goto T5 had to transfer to the ATS at T2, it would negate most of the time savings.

-I think there should be a near north stop to capture an enormous well traveled population in River North, Streeterville, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. This could be somewhere North/Elston area and would be a lot easier and quicker for most of those people getting into the Loop to goto the Block 37 site. It would take a lot of cabs and ubers off the Kennedy. I don't see people from the near north side going into the congested downtown to catch this. This would mostly O&D Loop, River North, Near South Side & maybe some of West Loop.

The "center" of the downtown Loop has arguably migrated west to Wacker so this puts the station 5 blocks east of the new core. It makes sense to have the station use the Block 37 space but I wonder if a spur stop at the Ogilvie / Union Stations would make sense as a multi-modal stop.

United787 wrote:

ADrum23 wrote:

I think this is doable, but I fear it will get tied up in Chicago politics and lawsuits.

If this gets done along with O'Hare 21, then ORD is really going to be a state of the art airport again. Long overdue for an airport that was long neglected due to political infighting.

I think just the opposite. I think it is because of Chicago politics that this thing has a far greater chance of getting done over many other cities. City Council has been a rubber stamp to the Mayor since the early 90s, under King Daley and continues under Rahmbo, despite his failings. When the City (or other agency) wants something, it pulls out all of the stops and will fight hard and dirty to get it done, sometimes despite enormous opposition and obstacles, some major examples:

Midway Airport Complete Reconfiguration: Done

Millennium Park: Done and now a tourism money printing machine. But way over budget and delayed but that was due to construction starting before they really knew what the park was going to be and then Daley adding new trophy elements to the roof at every step of the way.

Soldier Field: Done - Major Opposition and Lawsuits

McCormick Place Expansions: Done

Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (Deep Tunnel): Mostly Done

O'Hare Airport Modernization Plan (Runway Reconfiguration) - Almost Done - Major Opposition and Lawsuits

Chicago is far from perfect and has lots of problems but it has a way of getting major construction projects completed.

Wags69 wrote:

I doubt it will ever be done. The biggest obstacle is going around the Deep Tunnel Project.

Why? It would probably only need to cross the deep tunnel once around Randolph and the River. The deep tunnel could be as deep as 350' and is at most 33' diameter. I am pretty confident they know exactly where it is and how to miss it. It would run parallel to it from roughly Chicago Ave. to Belmont Ave. but again, shouldn't be an issue.

I am more worried about all of the bridge pylons that they will need to go under. I think the Board of Underground will be more concerned with those. I am guessing that is why it isn't going under 90/94 but instead running parallel to it.

It sound like the terminus would be T2 which is perfect. I think they should consider two more stops (or spurs) as part of phase 1:

-T5: If pax wanting to goto T5 had to transfer to the ATS at T2, it would negate most of the time savings.

-I think there should be a near north stop to capture an enormous well traveled population in River North, Streeterville, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. This could be somewhere North/Elston area and would be a lot easier and quicker for most of those people getting into the Loop to goto the Block 37 site. It would take a lot of cabs and ubers off the Kennedy.

As much as I despise Daley and Rhambo, they at least see the value and $ ORD and MDW bring to the city. This should have happened a long time ago, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

nomorerjs wrote:

As much as I despise Daley and Rhambo, they at least see the value and $ ORD and MDW bring to the city. This should have happened a long time ago, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

If this really happens, maybe it is better it didn't happen a long time ago since the technology wasn't there. Chicago would be the first with this system and NYC, with the largest subway system in the Americas, would still not have direct train access to any of it's three airports (AirTrains don't count). Chicago already has direct train access to both of it's airports. How many other cities have some sort of high-speed express service to it's airports? LHR, FCO, PEK, ARN, DEL, OSL, LGW, KUL, NRT, STN, HKG, NGO? Please correct me if I missed any.

Furthermore, with all of the corporate headquarters (or major portions of companies) recently moving to Chicago from the burbs or elsewhere, this starts to make more sense. Boeing, McDonald's, United, ADM, Motorola Solutions, Motorola Mobility, Dyson, MillerCoors, Wilson Sporting Goods, Beam Suntory, ConAgra, GE Healthcare, Oscar Meyer, Mead Johnson, Gogo, Hillshire...and yesterday, Walgreens!

WorldFlier wrote:

Now that Chicago has 6 continents, how about a *A RTW hitting all Six Continents To/From ORD.

Note Ethiopian is the key to this trip but they don't start SVO until September 2018



United ORD-GRU
Ethiopian GRU-ADD
Ethiopian ADD-SVO
Air China SVO-PEK
Air China PEK-AKL
Air New Zealand AKL-ORD

Stop you are giving me ideas on how to blow some cash!

United787 wrote:

nomorerjs wrote:

As much as I despise Daley and Rhambo, they at least see the value and $ ORD and MDW bring to the city. This should have happened a long time ago, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

If this really happens, maybe it is better it didn't happen a long time ago since the technology wasn't there. Chicago would be the first with this system and NYC, with the largest subway system in the Americas, would still not have direct train access to any of it's three airports (AirTrains don't count). Chicago already has direct train access to both of it's airports. How many other cities have some sort of high-speed express service to it's airports? LHR, FCO, PEK, ARN, DEL, OSL, LGW, KUL, NRT, STN, HKG, NGO? Please correct me if I missed any.

Furthermore, with all of the corporate headquarters (or major portions of companies) recently moving to Chicago from the burbs or elsewhere, this starts to make more sense. Boeing, McDonald's, United, ADM, Motorola Solutions, Motorola Mobility, Dyson, MillerCoors, Wilson Sporting Goods, Beam Suntory, ConAgra, GE Healthcare, Oscar Meyer, Mead Johnson, Gogo, Hillshire...

YYZ does now.

Once LGA gets the subway extension it will be in the same club as ORD.

nomorerjs wrote:

United787 wrote:

nomorerjs wrote:

As much as I despise Daley and Rhambo, they at least see the value and $ ORD and MDW bring to the city. This should have happened a long time ago, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

If this really happens, maybe it is better it didn't happen a long time ago since the technology wasn't there. Chicago would be the first with this system and NYC, with the largest subway system in the Americas, would still not have direct train access to any of it's three airports (AirTrains don't count). Chicago already has direct train access to both of it's airports. How many other cities have some sort of high-speed express service to it's airports? LHR, FCO, PEK, ARN, DEL, OSL, LGW, KUL, NRT, STN, HKG, NGO? Please correct me if I missed any.

Furthermore, with all of the corporate headquarters (or major portions of companies) recently moving to Chicago from the burbs or elsewhere, this starts to make more sense. Boeing, McDonald's, United, ADM, Motorola Solutions, Motorola Mobility, Dyson, MillerCoors, Wilson Sporting Goods, Beam Suntory, ConAgra, GE Healthcare, Oscar Meyer, Mead Johnson, Gogo, Hillshire...and yesterday, Walgreens!

Yep, the old post office!

Chicago has a lot to offer, but the graft and incompetence of the city / state politics is a problem for business relocating (although a few get “special” treatment)!

The people owning that have finally gotten some success in moving people in there huh....

Will be interesting to see if we get a greater shift of wealth from suburbs to City that we have been seeing recently... or atleast of employment.

They need to fix Metra first however... *burns new BNSF schedule*

United787 wrote:

nomorerjs wrote:

As much as I despise Daley and Rhambo, they at least see the value and $ ORD and MDW bring to the city. This should have happened a long time ago, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

If this really happens, maybe it is better it didn't happen a long time ago since the technology wasn't there. Chicago would be the first with this system and NYC, with the largest subway system in the Americas, would still not have direct train access to any of it's three airports (AirTrains don't count). Chicago already has direct train access to both of it's airports. How many other cities have some sort of high-speed express service to it's airports? LHR, FCO, PEK, ARN, DEL, OSL, LGW, KUL, NRT, STN, HKG, NGO? Please correct me if I missed any.

Furthermore, with all of the corporate headquarters (or major portions of companies) recently moving to Chicago from the burbs or elsewhere, this starts to make more sense. Boeing, McDonald's, United, ADM, Motorola Solutions, Motorola Mobility, Dyson, MillerCoors, Wilson Sporting Goods, Beam Suntory, ConAgra, GE Healthcare, Oscar Meyer, Mead Johnson, Gogo, Hillshire...and yesterday, Walgreens!

Yep, the old post office!

Chicago has a lot to offer, but the graft and incompetence of the city / state politics is a problem for business relocating (although a few get “special” treatment)!

United787 wrote:

-I think there should be a near north stop to capture an enormous well traveled population in River North, Streeterville, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. This could be somewhere North/Elston area and would be a lot easier and quicker for most of those people getting into the Loop to goto the Block 37 site. It would take a lot of cabs and ubers off the Kennedy. I don't see people from the near north side going into the congested downtown to catch this. This would mostly O&D Loop, River North, Near South Side & maybe some of West Loop.

The "center" of the downtown Loop has arguably migrated west to Wacker so this puts the station 5 blocks east of the new core. It makes sense to have the station use the Block 37 space but I wonder if a spur stop at the Ogilvie / Union Stations would make sense as a multi-modal stop.

The CTA Blue Line will still exist, so all those in Wicker Park and Bucktown can continue using the Blue Line. River North, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, etc folks can take the Red Line to Lake, which is connected to Block 37.

nmdrdh787 wrote:

WorldFlier wrote:

Now that Chicago has 6 continents, how about a *A RTW hitting all Six Continents To/From ORD.

Note Ethiopian is the key to this trip but they don't start SVO until September 2018



United ORD-GRU
Ethiopian GRU-ADD
Ethiopian ADD-SVO
Air China SVO-PEK
Air China PEK-AKL
Air New Zealand AKL-ORD

Stop you are giving me ideas on how to blow some cash!

United787 wrote:

nomorerjs wrote:

As much as I despise Daley and Rhambo, they at least see the value and $ ORD and MDW bring to the city. This should have happened a long time ago, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

If this really happens, maybe it is better it didn't happen a long time ago since the technology wasn't there. Chicago would be the first with this system and NYC, with the largest subway system in the Americas, would still not have direct train access to any of it's three airports (AirTrains don't count). Chicago already has direct train access to both of it's airports. How many other cities have some sort of high-speed express service to it's airports? LHR, FCO, PEK, ARN, DEL, OSL, LGW, KUL, NRT, STN, HKG, NGO? Please correct me if I missed any.

Furthermore, with all of the corporate headquarters (or major portions of companies) recently moving to Chicago from the burbs or elsewhere, this starts to make more sense. Boeing, McDonald's, United, ADM, Motorola Solutions, Motorola Mobility, Dyson, MillerCoors, Wilson Sporting Goods, Beam Suntory, ConAgra, GE Healthcare, Oscar Meyer, Mead Johnson, Gogo, Hillshire...

YYZ does now.

Once LGA gets the subway extension it will be in the same club as ORD.

**KINDA**

The whole LGA thing, which seems and screams a mess, is a separate AirTrain from LGA going east out to the current CitiField/Willets Point station for the 7 train subway.

You'll then have to get off the train, probably schlep down a level or two, and then get on the 7 train platform and wait for the 7 train.

And since the 7 train is always down for repairs, you'll quite often have to get off at Queensboro Plaza and transfer to an N or a W to get into Manhattan.

So while it all sounds great and fantastic, it's going to be a rather bit of a pain in the ass if you're carrying a ton of bags to be honest. Plus, the 7....in rush hour? Oh damn, gina, good luck to you.

The major difference with Chicago here is the Blue Line runs directly to the airport with no transfer to/from a separate AirTrain system.

So, not nitpicking here, just giving you some clarity as to what the plans are here.

Some great shots here!

https://www.facebook.com/657044120/post ... 304034121/

United787 wrote:

-I think there should be a near north stop to capture an enormous well traveled population in River North, Streeterville, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. This could be somewhere North/Elston area and would be a lot easier and quicker for most of those people getting into the Loop to goto the Block 37 site. It would take a lot of cabs and ubers off the Kennedy. I don't see people from the near north side going into the congested downtown to catch this. This would mostly O&D Loop, River North, Near South Side & maybe some of West Loop.

The "center" of the downtown Loop has arguably migrated west to Wacker so this puts the station 5 blocks east of the new core. It makes sense to have the station use the Block 37 space but I wonder if a spur stop at the Ogilvie / Union Stations would make sense as a multi-modal stop.

Anyone else find it curiously interesting that the proposed route runs DIRECTLY along several of the proposed HQ2 sites (including Lincoln Yards - likely the front-runner for HQ2 if it came to Chicago). I also find it interesting that Rahm seemed to be rushing the announcement since they don't even have the negotiations in place yet. I wouldn't doubt they're proposing to Bezos and team a direct station if HQ2 should happen to land here. From Lincoln Yards it probably would be about 8-9 minutes to ORD. It seems that the way this system is built that an infinite number of stations could ultimately be added and the vehicles then just merge into traffic on the main thoroughfare. Ultimately a link that goes a bit east to Kimball to connect with Brown Line. Maybe a link east to Lake around Belmont, etc. It ultimately could become a Circle Line if they build enough spurs.

nomorerjs wrote:

United787 wrote:

nomorerjs wrote:

As much as I despise Daley and Rhambo, they at least see the value and $ ORD and MDW bring to the city. This should have happened a long time ago, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

If this really happens, maybe it is better it didn't happen a long time ago since the technology wasn't there. Chicago would be the first with this system and NYC, with the largest subway system in the Americas, would still not have direct train access to any of it's three airports (AirTrains don't count). Chicago already has direct train access to both of it's airports. How many other cities have some sort of high-speed express service to it's airports? LHR, FCO, PEK, ARN, DEL, OSL, LGW, KUL, NRT, STN, HKG, NGO? Please correct me if I missed any.

Furthermore, with all of the corporate headquarters (or major portions of companies) recently moving to Chicago from the burbs or elsewhere, this starts to make more sense. Boeing, McDonald's, United, ADM, Motorola Solutions, Motorola Mobility, Dyson, MillerCoors, Wilson Sporting Goods, Beam Suntory, ConAgra, GE Healthcare, Oscar Meyer, Mead Johnson, Gogo, Hillshire...and yesterday, Walgreens!

Yep, the old post office!

Chicago has a lot to offer, but the graft and incompetence of the city / state politics is a problem for business relocating (although a few get “special” treatment)!

The Walgreens HQ is staying in Deerfield, but 1300 employees are moving to downtown Chicago.

chicawgo wrote:

United787 wrote:

-I think there should be a near north stop to capture an enormous well traveled population in River North, Streeterville, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. This could be somewhere North/Elston area and would be a lot easier and quicker for most of those people getting into the Loop to goto the Block 37 site. It would take a lot of cabs and ubers off the Kennedy. I don't see people from the near north side going into the congested downtown to catch this. This would mostly O&D Loop, River North, Near South Side & maybe some of West Loop.

The "center" of the downtown Loop has arguably migrated west to Wacker so this puts the station 5 blocks east of the new core. It makes sense to have the station use the Block 37 space but I wonder if a spur stop at the Ogilvie / Union Stations would make sense as a multi-modal stop.

Anyone else find it curiously interesting that the proposed route runs DIRECTLY along several of the proposed HQ2 sites (including Lincoln Yards - likely the front-runner for HQ2 if it came to Chicago). I also find it interesting that Rahm seemed to be rushing the announcement since they don't even have the negotiations in place yet. I wouldn't doubt they're proposing to Bezos and team a direct station if HQ2 should happen to land here. From Lincoln Yards it probably would be about 8-9 minutes to ORD. It seems that the way this system is built that an infinite number of stations could ultimately be added and the vehicles then just merge into traffic on the main thoroughfare. Ultimately a link that goes a bit east to Kimball to connect with Brown Line. Maybe a link east to Lake around Belmont, etc. It ultimately could become a Circle Line if they build enough spurs.

It’s Chicago! What else would you expect?