| O'hare International Airport |
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:''ORD redirects here. For other uses of ORD, see ORD (disambiguation) .'' O'Hare International Airport is an Airport located in Chicago, Illinois , 17 miles (27 km) northwest of the Chicago Loop . It is the largest hub of United Airlines (whose headquarters are located in nearby Elk Grove Township, Illinois) and the second-largest hub of American Airlines , after Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport . It is operated by the City of Chicago Department of Aviation, associated with an umbrella regional authority. O'Hare rivals Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as the World's Busiest Airport . However in 2005, Hartsfield overtook O'Hare as the world's busiest airport in terms of takeoffs and landings. This was mainly due to the federal government imposing flight caps at O'Hare to reduce flight delays. In terms of total passengers served, Hartsfield has held the title of world's busiest airport for 8 years now. Both airports serve primarily as hubs for cross-country connections, although O'Hare also has a strong international airline presence with flights to more than 60 foreign destinations. O'Hare ranks fourth in the nation's top ten international gateways; only JFK International Airport in New York City , LAX in Los Angeles , and Miami International Airport better it. O’Hare International Airport was voted the Best Airport in North America for the year 2003 by readers of the U.S. Edition of Business Traveler Magazine, marking six years in a row O'Hare has earned that honor. O'Hare's high volume and crowded schedule can lead to cancellations and long delays that affect air travel across the United States. Official reports rank O'Hare as the least punctual airport in the United States based on percentage of delayed flights. City management has committed to a $ 6 billion capital investment plan to revamp the airport's runway layout and add a new western terminal complex, increasing the airport's capacity and decreasing delays by an estimated 79 percent {Link without Title} . In the meantime, the hub airlines have also recently agreed to modify their schedules to help reduce congestion caused by clustered arrivals and departures. Because of the air traffic departing, arriving, and near the airport, the air traffic controllers at O'Hare and its nearby facilities are some of the hardest working in the world in terms of number of controlled flights per hour. HISTORY The airport was constructed in 1942-43 as a manufacturing plant for Douglas C-54 s during World War II . The site was chosen for its proximity to the city and transportation. The two million square-foot (180,000 m&2) factory needed easy access to the workforce of the nation's then-second-largest city, as well as its extensive railroad infrastructure. Orchard Place was a small pre-existing community in the area, and the airport was known during the war as Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field. The facility was also the site of the Army Air Force's 803 Special Depot, which stored many rare or experimental planes, including captured enemy aircraft. These historic aircraft would later be transferred to the National Air Museum, going on to form the core of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's collection. Douglas Aircraft Company's contract ended in 1945, and though plans were proposed to build commercial aircraft, the company ultimately chose to concentrate production on the west coast. With the departure of Douglas, the airport took the name Orchard Field Airport. In 1945, the facility was chosen by the City of Chicago as the site for a facility to meet future aviation demands. Though its familiar three-letter IATA code ORD still reflects the early identity of the airport, it was renamed in 1949 after Lt. Cmdr. Edward "Butch" O'Hare , a World War II flying ace who was awarded the Medal Of Honor . By the early 1950s, Midway Airport , which had been the primary Chicago airport since 1931, had become too small and crowded despite multiple expansions and was unable to handle the planned first generation of jets. The City of Chicago and FAA began to develop O'Hare as the main airport for Chicago's future. The first commercial passenger flights were started there in 1955, and an international terminal was built in 1958, but the majority of domestic traffic did not move from Midway until completion of a 1962 expansion of O'Hare. The arrival of Midway's former traffic instantly made O'Hare the new World's Busiest Airport, serving 10 million passengers annually. Within two years that number would double, with more people passing through O'Hare in 12 months than Ellis Island had processed in its entire existence. In 1997, annual passenger volume was 70 million. On May 25 , 1979 , American Airlines Flight 191 crashed upon takeoff en route to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California from Chicago, killing all 271 people on board and two people on the ground. The crash remains the deadliest single-aircraft crash in United States history. On October 31 , 1994 , American Eagle Flight 4184 , which was flying to O'Hare from Indianapolis International Airport in Indianapolis , Indiana , crashed into a Soybean field, killing all 68 people on board. On May 8 , 2002 , alleged Al-Qaida member Jose Padilla was arrested after his plane landed at the airport for allegedly being a scout for a plot to plant a Dirty Bomb . MODERNIZATION PROGRAM A $6 billion O'Hare Modernization Program was approved by the FAA in October 2005 and will involve a reconfiguration of the airfield and addition of terminal space. Four runways will be added and three decommissioned in order to give the airfield an eight-runway parallel configuration similar to, but smaller than, those in Dallas and Atlanta . Terminals 3 and 5 will undergo expansion, and a new west terminal is planned with western access into the airport; however, some land acquisition is necessary, requiring approximately 2,800 residents to be relocated. The program will expand the airport's capacity to over 3,800 operations per day, up from the present capacity of 2,700 and will vastly increase passenger throughput capacity. The neighboring communities of , which they claim would alleviate the problems at O'Hare without the destruction of portions of their communities. In 1995 the Chicago Gary Airport Compact was signed by the cities of Chicago and Gary, Indiana, creating the governing body of the Gary/Chicago International Airport just across the state line. While markedly smaller than the proposed Peotone site, this airport already has an active runway longer than the longest at Midway Airport , and is miles closer to the population in greatest need of access to air transport. TERMINALS O'Hare International has four passenger terminals. Two or more additional terminal buildings are envisioned. There is the possibility of a large terminal complex for the west side of the field, with access from I-90 and/or the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, if the runway reconfiguration is completed. Terminal 1 (United Airlines Terminal: Concourses B and C)
The original 1955 passenger terminal for international flights, was replaced with the modern Terminal 1, designed by Helmut Jahn , in 1987 . Terminal 2 (Concourses E and F)
Terminal 2 was built in a large airport expansion in 1962, along with the original portion of Terminal 3. Terminal 3 (Concourses G, H, K, and L)
Terminal 3 was also built in the 1962 capital program. It was significantly expanded in 1983, with the construction of Concourse L. It is currently undergoing renovation, scheduled to run from January 2004 to Late Fall 2007. Terminal 4 Terminal 4 was O'Hare's interim international terminal from 1984 until 1995, located underneath the main parking garage. International passengers would check in at Terminal 4 and be taken directly to their aircraft by bus. Since the opening of Terminal 5, Terminal 4 has been changed into the airport's facility for CTA buses, hotel shuttles, and other ground transportation. The T4 designation will be used again in the future as new terminals are developed. Terminal 5 - International Terminal (Concourse M)
Airfield layout at ORD]] There are 6 primary air carrier runways, arranged tangentially in 3 pairs of parallel sets. The largest is Runway 14R-32L, 13,000' x 200'. Runways 14L and 14R have Category III ILS ( Instrument Landing System ). All other runways except 4L have full ILS. Three runways of the original 1943 airfield's four have been upgraded to modern standards. Additional runways were constructed in 1955, 1968, and 1971. In 2003, old Runway 18-36 was permanently closed -- its short length and problematic placement no longer justified its continued certification. Runway 18-36 is now shown as taxiway GG on current airport charts. The proposed redevelopment would entail removal of the 2 northwest-southeast runways, construction of 4 additional east-west runways, and extension of the 2 existing east-west runways. The two existing northeast-southwest runways would be retained. Runway 32L is sometimes used for departures in a shortened configuration. Planes access the runway from its intersection at taxiway T10 (common) or taxiway M (not common). This shortens the effective length of the runway but allows operations on runway 9R-27L to continue. Transit
Other facilities A large air cargo complex on the southwest side of the field was opened in 1984, replacing most of the old cargo area, which stood where Terminal 5 now exists. The original Douglas plant on the northeast side evolved into an Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve facility, but this was closed in 1998 and is now being redeveloped for cargo and general aviation. Signature Flight Support services private aircraft in this area. The hangar area has multiple buildings capable of fully enclosing aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 747 . Cargo carriers
REFERENCES O'Hare has been referenced by many movies and T.V. shows.
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