O’Hare ‘conundrum’ could upend when Global Terminal, new concourses are built
Juggling thousands more O’Hare International Airport passengers while tearing down Terminal 2 is a feat even the city that works will find problematic, DePaul University researchers caution.
The challenging logistics are why Chicago might revise a hard-won 2024 deal with United and American airlines that prioritized building a Global Terminal and a new satellite “Concourse D.” A second, satellite “Concourse E,” would come last.
Instead, the city might construct both satellite concourses first and put the Global Terminal, which replaces Terminal 2, on temporary hold.
“O’Hare planners face a conundrum,” DePaul Professor Joseph Schwieterman and analyst Samantha Rouzan wrote in “O’Hare’s Traffic Trajectory,” a study released Wednesday.
“They must build new terminals and concourses reflective of our city’s lofty aviation status while minimizing construction impacts.”
With American and United in a race to expand service, O’Hare marked its busiest summer ever, with flights growing by 11.2% through September. Without constraints, operations could soar by 30% between 2024 and 2032, the study predicts.
But, “the probable loss of gates from Terminal 2’s demolition for the new Global Terminal will create strong headwinds to traffic growth after 2028, even if the new (Concourse D) is finished on schedule,” researchers said. Terminal 2 has 43 gates.
“The expansion of passenger traffic creates pressure for a phased approach to building the Global Terminal.”
City officials are also making calculations. A recent airport bond statement, first reported by Crain’s, mentions constructing the Global Terminal in “incremental phases to mitigate gate capacity impacts.”
It also offers a scenario where Concourse D and E could be built concurrently. The city broke ground in August on 19-gate Concourse D. Located on the southwest airfield, it will be completed in late 2028.
Under the scenario, work would start on Concourse E in 2026 and end in 2029. That’s when construction of the Global Terminal would begin and last into 2033.
The Chicago Department of Aviation said the city is working with its airline partners to advance the massive airport rebuild, ORDNext.
“As part of ongoing planning efforts, the CDA is advancing a development framework to guide the current phase of construction and minimize operational impacts. This framework will continue to be refined through active collaboration with airline partners,” officials said.
“Future adjustments to project sequencing and timing will reflect our shared commitment to a smooth, efficient, and forward-looking modernization of O’Hare.”
United had no comment on the issue as of Tuesday, but the city will need buy-in from both its hometown airline and American before any major reschedules.
The city originally intended to build the concourses first and Global Terminal later but changed course after airline objections, leading to the 2024 agreement.
DePaul experts advised Chicago to do everything it could to “prevent sharp reductions in flight activity during construction,” and assess the costs and benefits of a new sequencing.