Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
serving
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the
Loop
Loop or LOOP may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live
* Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets
* Loop Mobile, an ...
business district. Operated by the Chicago Department of Aviation and covering ,
[, effective December 30, 2021.] O'Hare has non-stop flights to 214 destinations in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
,
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
, and the North Atlantic region as of November 2022. As of 2022, O'Hare is considered the world's most connected airport.
Designed to be the successor to Chicago's
Midway International Airport
Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...
, itself nicknamed the "busiest square mile in the world," O'Hare began as an airfield serving a
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
manufacturing plant for
C-54 military transports during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was renamed Orchard Field Airport in the mid-1940s and assigned the IATA code ORD. In 1949, it was renamed after aviator
Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the U.S. Navy's first
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
recipient during that war.
As the first major airport planned after World War II, O'Hare's innovative design pioneered concepts such as concourses, direct highway access to the terminal,
jet bridges
A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...
, and underground refueling systems.
O'Hare became famous during the jet age, holding the distinction as the
world's busiest airport
The definition of world's busiest airport has been specified by the Airports Council International in Montreal, Canada. The ACI defines and measures the following three types of airport traffic:
*Passenger traffic: total passengers emplaned and de ...
from 1963 to 1998; today, it is the world's fourth-busiest airport for passenger counts, serving 54 million passengers in 2021. In 2019, O'Hare had 919,704 aircraft movements, averaging 2,520 per day, the most of any airport in the world in part because of a large number of regional flights. On the ground, road access to the airport is offered by airport shuttle, bus, or taxis by
Interstate 190 (
Kennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a nearly freeway in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Portions of the freeway carry I-190, I-90 and I-94. The freeway runs in a southeast–northwest direction between the central city neighborhood of the W ...
), which goes directly into the airport. O'Hare serves as a major
hub for both
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. (which is headquartered in
Willis Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...
) and
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
. It is also a
focus city
An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the ...
for
Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines Inc. (stylized as spirit) is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Latin Ameri ...
.
History
Establishment and defense efforts
![F4F-3WildcatOHareAirport-DLighting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/F4F-3WildcatOHareAirport-DLighting.jpg)
Soon after the opening of
Chicago Municipal Airport
Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...
in 1926, the City of Chicago realized more airport capacity would be needed. The city government investigated various sites in the 1930s but made little progress before America's entry into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
O'Hare began as a manufacturing plant for
Douglas C-54 Skymaster
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...
s during World War II. The site was known as
Orchard Place, previously a small German-American farming community. The plant, in the northeast corner of what is now the airport, needed easy access to the workforce of the nation's second-largest city, as well as its railroads and location far from enemy threat. Some 655 C-54s were built at the plant, more than half of all produced. The airfield, from which the C-54s flew out, was known as Douglas Airport; initially, it had four runways.
Less known is the fact that it was the location of the Army Air Force's 803rd Specialized Depot, a unit charged with storing many captured enemy aircraft; a few representatives of this collection would eventually be transferred to the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
's
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...
.
Douglas Company's contract ended with the war's conclusion. Douglas considered building airliners at Orchard, but chose to concentrate civil production at its headquarters in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
.
With the departure of Douglas the complex took the name Orchard Field Airport, and was assigned the IATA code ORD.
The
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
used the field extensively during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
; the airport then had no scheduled airline service. Although not its primary base in the area, the Air Force used O'Hare as a fighter base; it was home to the
62nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron flying
North American F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...
s from 1950 to 1959.
By 1960, the need for O'Hare as an active duty fighter base was diminishing, just as commercial business was picking up at the airport. The Air Force removed active-duty units from O'Hare and turned the station over to
Continental Air Command
Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary au ...
, enabling them to base reserve and
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
units there. As a result of a 1993 agreement between the City and the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
, the reserve base was closed on April 1, 1997, ending its career as the home of the
928th Airlift Wing
The 928th Airlift Wing is an inactive United States Air Force Reserve unit. It was last active with the Twenty-Second Air Force at O'Hare Air Reserve Station, Illinois, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1997.
History Need for reserve troop ...
and of the
126th Air Refueling Wing in 1999. At that time, the remaining site came under the ownership of the Chicago Department of Aviation.
Early commercial development
In 1945 Chicago mayor
Edward Kelly established a board to choose the site of a new airport to meet future demand. After considering various proposals, the board decided upon the Orchard Field site and acquired most of the federal government property in March 1946. The military retained a small parcel of property on the site and the right to use 25% of the airfield's operating capacity for free.
Ralph H. Burke devised an airport master plan based on the pioneering idea of what he called "split finger terminals", allowing a terminal building to be attached to "airline wings" (concourses), each providing space for gates and planes. (Pre-war airport designs had favored ever-larger single terminals, exemplified by
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
's
Tempelhof
Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park called ...
.) Burke's design also included underground refueling, direct highway access to the front of terminals, and direct rail access from downtown, all of which are utilized at airports worldwide today. O'Hare was the site of the world's first
jet bridge
A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...
in 1958, and successfully adapted
slip form paving, developed for the nation's new
Interstate highway system
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
, for seamless concrete runways.
In 1949 the City renamed the facility O'Hare Airport to honor
Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the U.S. Navy's first
flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
and
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
recipient in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Its IATA code (ORD) remained unchanged, however, resulting in O'Hare being one of the few IATA codes bearing no connection to the airport's name or metropolitan area.
Arrival of passenger service and subsequent growth
Scheduled passenger service began in 1955,
but growth was slow at first. Although Chicago had invested over $25 million in O'Hare,
Midway remained the world's busiest airport and airlines were reluctant to move until highway access and other improvements were completed. The April 1957
Official Airline Guide
OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight sta ...
listed 36 weekday departures from O'Hare, while Midway had 414. Improvements began to attract the airlines: O'Hare's first international terminal opened in August 1958, and by April 1959 the airport had expanded to with new hangars, terminals, parking and other facilities. The
expressway
Expressway may refer to:
* Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic.
* Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road.
*Expressway, the fictional s ...
link to downtown Chicago, now known as the
Kennedy Expressway
The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a nearly freeway in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Portions of the freeway carry I-190, I-90 and I-94. The freeway runs in a southeast–northwest direction between the central city neighborhood of the W ...
, was completed in 1960.
And new Terminals2 and3, designed by
C. F. Murphy and Associates, opened on January 1, 1962.
The biggest factor driving the airlines from Midway to O'Hare was the jet airliner; the first scheduled jet at O'Hare was an American 707 from New York to Chicago to San Francisco on March 22, 1959. One-mile-square (1.6-kilometer-square) Midway had no space for the runways that 707s and DC-8s required. Airlines had been reluctant to move to O'Hare, but they naturally did not want to split their operations: in July 1962, the last fixed-wing scheduled airline flight in Chicago moved from Midway to O'Hare. Until United returned in July 1964, Midway's only scheduled airline was Chicago Helicopter Airways. The arrival of Midway's traffic quickly made O'Hare the world's busiest airport, serving 10 million passengers annually. Within two years, that number would double, with Chicagoans boasting that more people passed through O'Hare in 12 months than
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...
had processed in its entire existence. O'Hare remained the world's busiest airport until 1998.
O'Hare had four runways in 1955; runway 14R opened in 1956 and was extended to a few years later, allowing nonstops to Europe. Runway 9R/27L (now 10L/28R) opened in 1968 and runway 4R/22L in 1971.
Post-deregulation developments
![Brachiosaurus altithorax](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Brachiosaurus_altithorax.jpg)
In the 1980s, after passage of
US airline deregulation, the first major change at O'Hare occurred when
TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...
left Chicago for
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
as its main mid-continent hub. Although TWA had a large hangar complex at O'Hare and had started
Constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
nonstops to Paris in 1958, by the time of deregulation its operation was losing $25 million a year under competition from United and American.
Northwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
likewise ceded O'Hare to the competition and shifted to a
Minneapolis/St. Paul and
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
-centered network by the early 1990s after acquiring
Republic Airlines
Republic Airlines was an American airline formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquarters were at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, in what is now Fort Snelling, Minnesota, Fort ...
in 1986.
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
maintained a Chicago hub for some time, even commissioning a new ConcourseL in 1983.
Ultimately, Delta found competing from an inferior position at O'Hare too expensive and closed its Chicago hub in the 1990s, concentrating its upper Midwest operations at
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
.
![United Airlines corridor, Chicago OHare Airport (6196116901)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/United_Airlines_corridor%2C_Chicago_OHare_Airport_%286196116901%29.jpg)
The dominant hubs established at O'Hare in the 1980s by United and American continue to operate today. United developed a new two-concourse Terminal1 (dubbed "The Terminal for Tomorrow"), designed by
Helmut Jahn
Helmut Jahn (January 4, 1940 – May 8, 2021) was a German-American architect, known for projects such as the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany; the Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany; the Thompson Center in Chicago; One Liberty ...
. It was built between 1985 and 1987 on the site of the original Terminal1; the structure, which includes 50 gates, is best known for its curved glass forms and the connecting underground tunnel between ConcoursesB andC. The tunnel is illuminated with a neon installation titled ''Sky's the Limit'' (1987) by Canadian artist
Michael Hayden, which plays an airy, slow-tempo version of ''
Rhapsody in Blue
''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered i ...
''. American renovated and expanded its existing facilities in Terminal3 from 1987 to 1990; those renovations feature a flag-lined entrance hall to ConcoursesH/K.
The demolition of the original Terminal 1 in 1984 to make way for Jahn's design forced a "temporary" relocation of international flights into facilities called "Terminal4" on the ground floor of the airport's central parking garage. International passengers were then bused to and from their aircraft. Relocation finally ended with the completion of the 21-gate International Terminal in 1993 (now called Terminal5); it contains all
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
facilities. Its location, on the site of the original cargo area and east of the terminal core, necessitated the construction of the
Airport Transit System people-mover, which connected the terminal core with the new terminal as well as remote rental and parking lots.
Following deregulation and the buildup of the American and United hubs, O'Hare faced increasing delays from the late 1980s onward due to its inefficient runway layout; the airfield had remained unchanged since the addition of its last new runway (4R/22L) in 1971. O'Hare's three pairs of angled runways were meant to allow takeoffs into the wind, but they came at a cost: the various intersecting runways were both dangerous and inefficient. Official reports at the end of the 1990s ranked O'Hare as one of the worst-performing airports in the United States based on the percentage of delayed flights. In 2001, the Chicago Department of Aviation committed to an O'Hare Modernization Plan (OMP). Initially estimated at $6.6 billion, the OMP was to be paid by bonds issued against the increase in the federal
passenger facility charge enacted that year and federal airport improvement funds. The modernization plan was approved by the
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
in October 2005 and involved a complete reconfiguration of the airfield. The OMP included the construction of four new runways, lengthening two existing runways, and decommissioning three old runways to provide O'Hare with six parallel runways and two crosswind runways.
The OMP was the subject of legal battles, both with suburbs who feared the new layout's noise implications as well as with survivors of persons interred in a cemetery the city proposed to relocate; some of the cases were not resolved until 2011.
These issues, plus the reduction in traffic as a result of the
2008 financial crisis, delayed the OMP's completion; construction of the sixth and final parallel runway (9C/27C) began in 2016. Its completion in 2020, along with an extension of runway 9R/27L completed in 2021, concluded the OMP.
Expansion
![O'Hare_Control_Tower_2022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/O%27Hare_Control_Tower_2022.jpg)
In 2018 the city and airlines committed to PhaseI of a new Terminal Area Plan dubbed O'Hare 21. The plan is to build two all-new satellite concourses to the southwest of Concourse C, and to expand Terminals 2 and 5 with additional gates, lounges, and updates to operations all over the airport (Terminal 5 will have ten new gates in addition to its expanded facilities, plus two additional gates to each accommodate an
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
).
The expansion will enable same-terminal transfers between international and domestic flights, faster connections, improved facilities and technology for
TSA and
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
inspections and much larger landside amenities like shopping and restaurants. A principal feature of the plan is the reorganization of the terminal core into an "alliance hub," the first in North America; airside connections and layout will be optimized around
airline alliances
An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within c ...
. This will be made possible by the construction of the O'Hare Global Terminal (OGT) where Terminal2 currently stands. The OGT and two new satellite concourses will allow for expansion for both American's and United's international operations as well as easy interchange with their respective
Oneworld
Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; Computer reservations system, CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international traveller ...
(American) and
Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenger ...
(United) partner carriers, eliminating the need to transfer to Terminal 5.
This project will add over to the airport's terminals, add a new
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
processing center in the OGT, reconstruct gates and concourses (new concourses will be a minimum of wide), increase the gate count from 185 to 235, and provide 25% more ramp space at every gate throughout the airport to accommodate larger aircraft. After an international design competition that featured public voting on five final architectural proposals, the Studio ORD group, led by architect
Jeanne Gang
Jeanne Gang (born March 19, 1964) is an American architect and the founder and leader of Studio Gang (established in 1997), an architecture and urban design practice with offices in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. Gang was first widely re ...
, was selected to design the OGT, while
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The fi ...
will design Satellites1 and2. By terms of the agreement, total costs of $8.5 billion for the project are to be borne by bonds issued by the city, which will be retired by airport usage fees paid by the airlines. O'Hare 21 is scheduled for completion of the two satellite terminals in 2027 and 2028, and overall completion in 2030.
Facilities
Terminals
O'Hare has four numbered passenger terminals with nine lettered concourses and a total of 191 gates.
*Terminal 1 contains 50 gates on two concourses, lettered B–C.
*Terminal 2 contains 41 gates on two concourses, lettered E–F.
*Terminal 3 contains 79 gates on four concourses, lettered G, H, K, and L.
*Terminal 5 contains 40 gates on one concourse, lettered M.
Terminals 1–3 are interconnected airside.
Terminal 5 is separated from the other terminals by a set of taxiways that cross over the airport's access road, requiring passengers to exit security, ride a shuttle bus or take the
Airport Transit System and then re–clear security before boarding.
All non pre–cleared international flights arrive at Terminal 5 as it currently contains the airport's sole
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...
facility.
Runways
O'Hare has two sets of parallel runways, one on either side of the terminal complex. Each airfield has three parallel east–west runways (9L/27R, 9C/27C, and 9R/27L on the north side; 10L/28R, 10C/28C, and 10R/28L on the south side) and a crosswind runway oriented northeast–southwest (4R/22L on the north, 4L/22R on the south). The north crosswind runway, 4L/22R, sees limited usage due to intersecting 9R/27L and 9C/27C; however, runway 22L is often used for takeoffs during what is called "west flow" on the main runways. The airfield is managed by three
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
towers. O'Hare has a voluntary nighttime (22:00–07:00)
noise abatement
Noise control or noise mitigation is a set of strategies to reduce noise pollution or to reduce the impact of that noise, whether outdoors or indoors.
Overview
The main areas of noise mitigation or abatement are: transportation noise control, ...
program. Currently, O'Hare has the most runways of any civilian airport in the world, totaling eight.
Hotel
The Hilton Chicago O'Hare is between the terminal core and parking garage and is currently the only hotel on airport property. It is owned by the Chicago Department of Aviation and operated under an agreement with
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton.
The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...
, who extended their agreement with the city by ten years in 2018.
Ground transportation
The O'Hare
Airport Transit System shuttles passengers between the terminal core (Terminals 1–3), Terminal 5, and the O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility. The system, which re-opened on November 3, 2021, resumed round-the-clock service starting at 5 a.m. on Monday, April 18, 2022, after a nearly six-year renovation. Meanwhile, free shuttle buses also continue to run 24/7 and contribute to congestion, boarding on the upper (departures) level of all terminals. The Bus Shuttle center, located on the ground level of the parking garage between Terminals 1–3 and directly opposite the Hilton Hotel, provides a temporary boarding location for local hotel shuttles and regional public transport buses. The O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility is the home of all on-airport car rental firms as well as some extended parking. In addition, the Chicago-area commuter rail system,
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...
, has a
transfer station of its
North Central Service
The North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois. In June 2018, the public timetable shows 10 weekday departures from C ...
(NCS) located at the northeast corner of the MMF; however, the NCS currently operates an occasional schedule on weekdays only.
The
CTA Blue Line's north terminus is at and provides direct service to downtown via the
Milwaukee–Dearborn subway in
the Loop and continuing to west suburban
Forest Park
A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment.
Examples Chile
* Forest Park, Santiago
China
*Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai
* Mufushan National Fores ...
. Trains depart at intervals ranging from every four to thirty minutes, 24 hours a day. The station is located on the lower level of the parking garage, and can be accessed directly from Terminals1–3 via tunnel and from Terminal5 via shuttle bus.
O'Hare is directly served by
Interstate 190, which offers interchanges with Mannheim Road (
U.S. 12 and
45), the Tri-State Tollway (
Interstate 294), and
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
. I-90 continues as the Kennedy Expressway into downtown Chicago and becomes the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway northwest to Rockford and the Wisconsin state line.
Cargo facilities
There are presently two main cargo areas at O'Hare. The South Cargo Area was relocated in the 1980s from the airport's first air cargo facilities, located east of the terminal core, where Terminal5 now stands. Many of the structures in this new cargo area then had to be rebuilt, again, to allow for the OMP and specifically runway 10R/28L; as a result, what is now called the South Cargo Area is located between 10R/28L and 10C/28C. This large collection of facilities, in three sections (Southwest, South Central, and Southeast), was established mainly by traditional airline-based air cargo;
Air France Cargo
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airl ...
, American,
JAL Cargo
, also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as ...
, KLM,
Lufthansa Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo AG is a German cargo airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. It operates worldwide air freight and logistics services and is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, the main hub of Lufthansa. Besides operating dedicated ...
, Northwest and United all built purpose-built, freestanding cargo facilities,
although some of these are now leased out to dedicated cargo firms. In addition, the area contains two separate facilities for shipper
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
and one for
UPS
UPS or ups may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* United Parcel Service, an American shipping company
** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary
** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary
* Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
.
The Northeast Cargo Area (NEC) is a conversion of the former military base (the Douglas plant area) at the northeast corner of the airport property. It is a new facility designed to increase O'Hare's cargo capacity by 50%. Two buildings currently make up the NEC: a building completed in 2016, and a building that was completed in 2017. A third structure will complete the NEC with another of warehouse space.
The current capability of the cargo areas provide of airside cargo space with parking for 40 wide-body freighters matched with over of landside warehousing capability. O'Hare shipped over in 2018,
fifth among airports in the U.S.
Other facilities
In 2011, O'Hare became the first major airport to build an
apiary
An apiary (also known as a bee yard) is a location where beehives of honey bees are kept. Apiaries come in many sizes and can be rural or urban depending on the honey production operation. Furthermore, an apiary may refer to a hobbyist's hives or ...
on its property; every summer, it hosts as many as 75 hives and a million bees. The bees are maintained by 30 to 40 ex-offenders with little to no work experience and few marketable skills; they are primarily recruited from Chicago's
North Lawndale
North Lawndale is one of the 77 community areas of the city of Chicago, Illinois, located on its West Side. The area contains the K-Town Historic District, the Foundation for Homan Square, the Homan Square interrogation facility, and the grea ...
neighborhood. They are taught beekeeping but also benefit from the bees' labor, turning it into bottled fresh honey, soaps, lip balms, candles and moisturizers marketed under the ''beelove'' product line. More than 500 persons have completed the program, transferring to jobs in manufacturing, food processing, customer service, and hospitality; the repeat-offender rate is reported to be less than 10%.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Notes:
*
: Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to O'Hare stops at Dublin, but the flight from O'Hare to Addis Ababa is direct.
Cargo
Statistics
Top destinations
Airline market share
Annual traffic
On-Time performance (domestic major U.S. Carriers Only)
Major accidents and incidents
The following is a list of major crashes or incidents that occurred to planes at O'Hare, on approach, or just after takeoff from the airport:
* On September 17, 1961,
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706, a
Lockheed L-188 Electra
The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensiv ...
, crashed upon takeoff, killing all 37 on board.
* On August 16, 1965,
United Airlines Flight 389
United Airlines Flight 389 was a scheduled flight from LaGuardia Airport, New York City, New York, to O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois. On August 16, 1965, at approximately 21:21 EST, the Boeing 727 crashed into Lake Michigan ...
, a
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
, crashed east of O'Hare while on approach, killing all 30 on board.
* On December 27, 1968,
North Central Airlines Flight 458, a
Convair CV-580
Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, it ...
, crashed into a hangar at O'Hare, killing 27 on board and one on the ground.
* On December 20, 1972,
North Central Airlines Flight 575
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
, a
Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas.
After ...
, crashed upon takeoff after colliding with
Delta Airlines Flight 954, a
Convair CV-880 which was taxiing across the active runway; 10 passengers on the DC-9 were killed.
* On May 25, 1979,
American Airlines Flight 191, a
McDonnell Douglas DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...
on a Memorial Day weekend flight to
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
, had its left engine detach while taking off from runway 32R, then stalled and crashed into a field some away. 273 died, including two on the ground, in the deadliest single-aircraft crash in United States history, and the worst aviation disaster in U.S. history prior to the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
.
* On March 19, 1982, a
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
KC-135 Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...
crashed upon approach to O'Hare northwest of the city (near
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
), killing 27 people on board.
* On February 9, 1998,
American Airlines Flight 1340, a
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
, crashed upon landing from Kansas City, injuring 22 passengers.
* On November 7, 2006, 12
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. employees and a few witnesses outside the airport at
Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop business ...
reported a
UFO sighting
This is a partial list by date of sightings of alleged unidentified flying objects (UFOs), including reports of close encounters and alien abductions.
Second millennium BCE
Classical antiquity
8th century
16th–17th centuries
19th cent ...
. The
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
declined to investigate the incident because the UFO was not seen on radar and called it a "weather phenomenon".
* On October 28, 2016,
American Airlines Flight 383 aborted takeoff after a fire in the right engine of the
Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...
; 20 passengers and one flight attendant were injured.
*On January 28, 2022, a China Airlines cargo Boeing 747 skid on the ramp in icy conditions crashing into airport ground equipment. The aircraft's engines sustained moderate damage from the accident.
*On August 5, 2022, a
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netw ...
cargo
Boeing 777-200
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...
with
registration
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
A7-BFH collided with a
lamp post while
taxiing
Taxiing (rarely spelled taxying) is the movement of an aircraft on the ground, under its own power, in contrast to towing or pushback where the aircraft is moved by a tug. The aircraft usually moves on wheels, but the term also includes aircra ...
on
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
10C. The lamp post became embedded in the leading edge of the right
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
of the aircraft. There were no injuries.
See also
*
List of the world's busiest airports, for a complete list of the busiest airports in the world
References
*
External links
*
O'Hare Modernization Program City of Chicago
Council Ordinance authorizing ORD21(with TAP attached, O2018-1124 (V1).pdf), City of Chicago
Northwest Chicago Historical Society
* The Fascinating History of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
1920–19601960–20002000 to Present*
*
Live KORD airplane map radar*
{{DEFAULTSORT:O'hare International Airport
Airports established in 1943
1944 establishments in Illinois
Airports in Cook County, Illinois
Airports in DuPage County, Illinois
American Airlines
Buildings and structures in Chicago
United Airlines