Economy, fuel costs blamed for declining flights at O'Hare, Midway

Tell us something new was the reaction of aviation insiders to the latest plummeting figures on flights in and out of O'Hare and Midway airports.

Rising fuel costs and the faltering economy are among the reasons operations at O'Hare International Airport dropped by 4.2 percent in the first six months of 2008, experts said. Departures and arrivals at O'Hare went from 461,661 in the first half of 2007 to 442,136 January through June of this year, according to statistics released Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Midway International Airport saw an even steeper decline of 9.6 percent. That reflects 151,414 flights at Midway in 2007 compared to 136,827 the first half of 2008.

O'Hare was the hardest hit out of the country's top five airports. Denver International Airport actually had an upswing of 3.2 percent more flights.

It's not surprising, United Airlines officials said. The carrier, which has its hub at O'Hare, is retiring about 100 aircraft and reducing domestic capacity by 16.5 percent.

"This is related to the spike in fuel costs," United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.

American Airlines is also reducing capacity at O'Hare and other airports.

Concerning Midway, the airport is seeing the effects of ATA and Continental Airlines ceasing service, Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride said. However, she noted that Southwest Airlines, which is a strong player at Midway, is one of the most "financially viable" airports around.

The trend will likely continue for some months, predicted Joe Schwieterman, transportation expert and director of the Chaddick Institute for Public Policy at DePaul University.

"O'Hare has felt the pain of cutbacks earlier than most other airports," Schwieterman said. "The worst is still to come this fall.

"Fuel prices are only partially to blame. The economy hasn't helped."

Did fewer flights mean fewer passengers? A review of data from May 2007 to May 2008 indicates about 6 percent fewer travelers at O'Hare. For Midway, passengers declined by 1.7 percent.

As far as delays went, 75 percent of flights were on time at O'Hare in May 2008, compared to 76 percent a year ago, according to the most recent 12-month report.

At Midway, it was better news, with 83.7 percent of flights on time in May versus 80.6 percent in 2007.