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- City airports are in the top flight -
Expansion plans will consolidate Chicago’s position as the country’s leading air hub

America’s best connected city gained its reputation from the amazing success stories of its O’Hare and Midway airports, which have led to Chicago becoming the busiest single airspace in the world. Together, they generate billions of dollars in economic development for the region and employ more than half a million people. O’Hare International, named after Second World War pilot Butch O’Hare, boasts more connections to more cities, more often, than any other airport and has been consistently voted America’s best. It is the only US airport to house two major airlines under its roof: United, the world’s largest operator, and American Airlines. Ten miles from downtown Chicago, the Midway Airport Terminal has recently opened, the result of a $760 million refurbishment to sharpen its competitiveness.

Commissioner Thomas Walker says: “The terminal will offer greater efficiency for airlines and provide the conveniences and services that travellers expect from the nation’s premier point-to-point airport.” In 1999, Midway served 13.5 million passengers on 297,000 flights. The airport development, scheduled for completion in 2004, will provide 41 new gates on three concourses, capable of serving 17 million passengers a year. Nine additional airlines have signed up, bringing the total to 13. Mayor Daley says: “I am proud that Chicago is home to one of the fastest growing airports in the nation. The new Midway will create 94,000 permanent and temporary jobs, and generate close to $4 billion for the local economy in the next 10 years. UAL, the holding company for United Airlines, which has been based in the area since it was set up 75 years ago, has grown with Chicago’s airports. Chairman James Goodwin says the roots of the company are essentially domestic, principally as an east-west and Chicago-west coast airline. “In the late 1980s, it became obvious to the management of the company that we needed to reach out into the global marketplace, and consumers were wanting access to more of the world,” he says. “The domestic market was basically well served, so our company had to go elsewhere for growth opportunities.” United Airlines started expanding in the late 1980s by acquiring some Pacific routes. Since then it has moved into Europe, where it has an operations centre at London’s Heathrow, and also into Latin America. In the early 1990s it acquired Pan Am’s London routes too.

Today, United has a fleet of some 600 aircraft, making 2,500 flights a day to more than 130 destinations. It is also an anchor partner of the global Star Alliance, which also includes Germany’s Lufthansa and British Midland. United has responded better than most to the hard challenges posed by the modern air transport business, forming strategic alliances to service markets that it could not naturally handle alone. “You can’t serve everybody, everywhere – the economic and political constraints of this business are real,” says Mr Goodwin.

Midway to generate almost $4 billion for the local economy

The Star Alliance has been beneficial to United, offering greater route flexibility and options at the international level. At home, in a bid to better serve its eastern coast customers, United has also moved to acquire US Airways. Mr Goodwin says it has been gratifying to watch United grow from a highly regulated company limited to the US market to spreading its wings worldwide in the era of deregulation. “This industry has found ways to adapt fast. The transport business is highly competitive, dynamic and very cyclical, and over the years it has had to learn to be very adaptive.” O’Hare airport appears to have grown up alongside United, undergoing two major expansions in the last 15 years, with the promise of more to come. A new terminal facility was built in the 1980s, while the last decade saw the completion of the new international terminal. Historically, Chicago has always been a transport crossroads for railroads, shipping and trucking, and now it has also become a natural hub for air traffic.

Back in the days when aircraft technology did not permit long-distance travel in one go, the city became a natural stopover point between the east and west coasts. Last year, US air carriers transported 670 million passengers in the domestic market, which is forecast to grow to one billion over the next decade. That means finding the capacity to handle a 50 per cent increase in passengers. Thomas Walker, Chicago Airport System commissioner at the City Department of Aviation, says every effort will be made to maintain the city’s standing as the country’s leading air hub. As well as upgrading Midway, Mr Walker says the aim is to make sure O’Hare is recognised as the country’s premier gateway every year. This will involve the construction of the new terminal and “making sure that we are putting in place those incremental improvements and technology which will allow us to make the most of the capacity we have”. He adds: “Ultimately, the main goal for us is to achieve a higher level of economic activity and more jobs supported by the activities at the airport.”