"New O'Hare terminal may signal end of third airport"

Wednesday, January 31, 2001

New O'Hare terminal may signal end of third airport
Plan for 30 new gates comes without any change in airport capacity.
BY KIT KADLEC
Medill News Service


CHICAGO -- Plans for a new terminal at O'Hare International Airport signal
yet another step away from the building of a third airport, opponents of the
terminal said Tuesday.

Chicago Aviation Commissioner Thomas R. Walker announced Monday the names of
four firms that intend to submit bids for the design and construction of the
Terminal 6 Project at O'Hare. The new terminal is expected to cost up to $1
billion. There are plans for yet another terminal at O'Hare after Terminal 6
is completed.

"It's a well-conceived plan on the city's part to reduce the opportunity for
building a third airport," said John Geils, president of Bensenville and
chairman of the Suburban O'Hare Commission. "It's the same program they've
done for years. They build a piece here, they build a piece there and they
pump tons of money into O'Hare. And they figure it will just be a matter of
time until they get what they want."

The Terminal 6 plan, which calls for 30 new gates, comes without any
appreciable change in airport capacity, said a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Henry
Hyde, R-Ill., on Tuesday.

"One can't help but believe that the city's bid to build new gates will
result in a predictable call for more runways at O'Hare," the spokesman
said. "This development will test how serious the state of Illinois is in
promoting a much needed third regional airport with sufficient capacity."

Coupled with what were considered pro-O'Hare expansion comments by newly
confirmed Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta last week, many
third-airport supporters are starting to feel the tide turn away from them.

This, despite the belief by many that the election of President George W.
Bush -- a supposed supporter of a third airport -- would end all talk of
another runway at O'Hare anytime soon.

Mineta would not comment about the O'Hare expansion Tuesday.

Dubbed the World Gateway Program, the building of the two new O'Hare
terminals will be funded with a combination of passenger facility charges,
federal grants and airline-backed bonds. No taxpayer dollars will be used to
finance the project, according to DOA spokeswoman Monique Bond. The project
is expected to create 8,000 construction jobs.

Mayor Richard M. Daley, who announced the program two years ago, said at a
press conference Tuesday that he would have nothing to do with a third
airport. But when asked if he was against the building of the proposed third
airport in Peotone, Daley said, no.

"I've said that a thousand times," he said. "Build it. Put it together. Work
together. Whatever they want to do."

Regardless of who's doing the building, proponents of both the O'Hare
expansion and the Peotone proposal agree something needs to be built soon.

"The region is out of [runway] capacity and pretty soon you're going to find
us shipping traffic to other regions if neither a third airport nor another
runway at O'Hare is built," said Geils. "It's extremely important to keep
the jobs here."

O'Hare is the second busiest airport in the world in total passengers and
total flights -- Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport is the first --
according to Airports Council International's most recent figures.

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