"O'Hare set to lose busiest-airport title"

Sunday, July 3, 2005

O'Hare set to lose busiest-airport title
The Chicago Tribune


CHICAGO -- Chicago is poised to lose to Atlanta the bragging rights for
having the nation's busiest airport in terms of flights and passengers,
according to government figures for air travel during the first half of
2005.

The figures, released Friday at the start of one of the busiest travel
weekends of the year, show the total number of flights declined in the first
six months of 2005 at O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport,
compared with the same period in 2004.

Still, the flight totals exceeded the levels that preceded the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Flight limits in effect during peak travel hours
at O'Hare to reduce airline delays were mainly responsible for a 1.5 percent
decline in flights at the airport between January and June, compared with
the prior year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Midway Airport handled 141,041 flights in this year's first half, a 16
percent drop from the 2004 period.

Even with the flight caps in place at O'Hare, the airport is expected to set
a new record by surpassing 1 million flights in 2005, said Bob Everson, the
FAA's manager of tactical air-traffic operations in the Midwest. O'Hare
handled a record 992,471 flights last year.

But the airport also finished 2004 with a record-breaking 30 percent of
flights arriving late, marking a last-place finish among the 31 busiest
airports.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which in 2004 handled
fewer flights than O'Hare but served more passengers, is expected to take
first place in both categories this year.


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