On the day Chicago commissioned its first new runway since 1971 as part of a a $15 billion O'Hare Modernization Plan announced in 2001, the
Chicago Tribune reported that six major airlines have asked the city and the Federal Aviation Administration to "halt the next phase of the ambitious expansion project" that includes more new runways and a new terminal. The carriers characterized plans to begin phase two of the 20-year plan now as "premature and inappopriate" due to current market conditions.
Thus far, Chicago has awarded $772 million in contracts for the master plan to replace intersecting runways with parallel ones in an effort to improve efficiency and capacity. Included are the $455 million runway, a $42 million air traffic control tower that opened today, runway expansion that had been completed in September and a third runway project slated for 2009.
Next year, Chicago plans to advertise $766 million worth of new construction for three new runways, a western terminal and another control tower, all to be completed by 2014. Airlines agreed to the expansion in 2003 and 2005, but contend they haven't agreed to the next phase. This summer, the six carriers wrote to the city and FAA to urge them to rethink the plans, the newspaper reported after it reviewed the letters.