O’Hare revamp turns contentious after going billions over budget
Chicago, already reeling from population declines and the loss of key employers, is struggling to advance an $8.5b airport upgrade that’s key to bolstering its status as a crucial air hub. The city unveiled the expansion plan for O’Hare International Airport in 2018, vowing to transform the aging hub into a global showcase. Six years later, the project is way behind schedule, projected to be billions over budget and still stuck. Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive with less than a year in office, is embroiled in contentious talks to tame costs with the airport’s main partners, United Airlines Holdings Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. The city’s options include using cheaper materials and tweaking the design of the project, said people familiar with the matter. The delays are threatening to deliver another blow to the third-largest US city as airports serving New York, Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles have charged ahead with upgrades. At stake is the biggest part of O’Hare’s revamp: two satellite concourses and a glittering new Global Terminal designed by star architect Jeanne Gang that will bring domestic and international flights under one roof, facilitating passenger connections. “If Chicago doesn’t proceed with the investment, then the concern is they just won’t have the facilities and they’ll just stagnate,” said Seth Lehman, a senior director at Fitch Ratings. “That’s not good for trying to build your economic base.” While the current terminal, which is also used by Delta, has already been upgraded, the Global Terminal and satellite concourses are $2b over budget as costs for everything from labor to construction materials have increased in the wake of the pandemic, said the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. United and American, which both use O’Hare as a hub and together account for the lion’s share of the traffic, are on the hook for a large chunk of the escalating expenses. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-03-25/general/o2019hare-revamp-turns-contentious-after-going-billions-over-budget
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O’Hare revamp turns contentious after going billions over budget
Chicago, already reeling from population declines and the loss of key employers, is struggling to advance an $8.5b airport upgrade that’s key to bolstering its status as a crucial air hub. The city unveiled the expansion plan for O’Hare International Airport in 2018, vowing to transform the aging hub into a global showcase. Six years later, the project is way behind schedule, projected to be billions over budget and still stuck. Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive with less than a year in office, is embroiled in contentious talks to tame costs with the airport’s main partners, United Airlines Holdings Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. The city’s options include using cheaper materials and tweaking the design of the project, said people familiar with the matter. The delays are threatening to deliver another blow to the third-largest US city as airports serving New York, Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles have charged ahead with upgrades. At stake is the biggest part of O’Hare’s revamp: two satellite concourses and a glittering new Global Terminal designed by star architect Jeanne Gang that will bring domestic and international flights under one roof, facilitating passenger connections. “If Chicago doesn’t proceed with the investment, then the concern is they just won’t have the facilities and they’ll just stagnate,” said Seth Lehman, a senior director at Fitch Ratings. “That’s not good for trying to build your economic base.” While the current terminal, which is also used by Delta, has already been upgraded, the Global Terminal and satellite concourses are $2b over budget as costs for everything from labor to construction materials have increased in the wake of the pandemic, said the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. United and American, which both use O’Hare as a hub and together account for the lion’s share of the traffic, are on the hook for a large chunk of the escalating expenses. <br/>
