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Old Posted Nov 10, 2007, 10:24 PM
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/servic...,5140885.story


TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE: O'Hare stuck with flight cap: FAA decision shocks city, threatens runway project funding

By Jon Hilkevitch

Tribune transportation reporter

November 10, 2007

In an about-face, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that a 3-year-old cap on flights into O'Hare International Airport won't be lifted in November 2008, when the first new runway is scheduled to open.

The policy reversal delivers a potential setback to the city's $15 billion expansion plans at O'Hare and could hamper new airline competition that promised to benefit consumers.

During a visit to Chicago, Henry Krakowski, the FAA's new chief of air-traffic operations, told the Tribune that the decision to extend controls on airline arrivals at O'Hare is aimed at keeping flight delays and cancellations in check.

"The new runway will get traffic on and off the airport faster," Krakowski said. But it won't lead to a significant increase in flights, he said.

...

Krakowski's disclosure that the flight caps won't be lifted a year from now took city officials by surprise.

"When flight caps were proposed for O'Hare, the city was assured that they would sunset in 2008," said Karen Pride, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Aviation. Rosemarie Andolino, director of the O'Hare expansion project, said that based on city projections, O'Hare would be able to handle an additional 50,000 flights annually after the first new O'Hare runway opens and an existing runway is extended.

FAA projections were far lower.

"I think we need to sit down with Mr. Krakowski because he is new to this position," Andolino said. "The flight caps are not supposed to be in place for perpetuity."

Robert Everson, the FAA's tactical operations program director in the Midwest, confirmed Krakowski's assessment that the initial airfield changes are designed to address delays, not boost capacity.

"The new runway is going to relieve some congestion, but not all delays are going to go away," Everson said.

...

The FAA originally promised that the O'Hare restrictions, limiting the airlines to a maximum of 88 arrivals per hour, would be eliminated when the first new runway opened as part of an eventual eight-runway reconfiguration of the airfield.

Before the FAA restrictions, the airlines often scheduled as many as 120 arrivals per hour during busy periods. Combined with an equal number of departures, that often created gridlock at the airport and hours-long flight delays in Chicago and elsewhere.

FAA officials said the opening of the first new O'Hare runway, at the north end of the airfield, likely won't increase flights much because of its proximity to several existing runways.

"You really don't get much capacity increase until you go to Phase Two with the next runway on the south end," said Krakowski, a former United executive who was an O'Hare-based captain at the airline for many years.

But so far, the airlines have not agreed to pay for the second portion of O'Hare expansion, citing concerns about construction delays and spiraling costs.

The Daley administration initially said the massive airport project would be finished in 2013. Lacking airline agreements and still fighting airport opponents in court over the relocation of a nearby cemetery, the city has not set a date for the project's completion.

The extension of flight caps would severely complicate Chicago's effort to pay for the O'Hare expansion, which is behind schedule and at least $400 million over budget.

...

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