Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest (and sometimes most confusing to navigate) has completed the last of the runway improvements it started in 2005 and is ready to move on to the next phase.
Under the $8.5 billion ‘O’Hare 21’ program, Terminal 5, already the airport’s largest and most confusing, will gain a modes new arm with additional gates, while the adjoining Terminal 2 will be torn down and replaced by the O’Hare Global Terminal, concentrating on international flights. The new terminal will also have two mid-field satellites. Overall, terminal space will grow from 5.5 to 8.9 million square feet. The Global project is scheduled to open in 2028.
The runway work—two new runways, an extension of 10-L and of 9R/21L—also carried an overall $8 billion sticker price, but are already paying off in better on-time performance. That’s because having longer runways means more planes can be taxied up and ready to go, and more space for arriving planes to follow each other down the tarmac.
