Impact unclear as feds let O'Hare flight caps expire

More planes can start landing at O'Hare International Airport, Federal Aviation Administration leaders said Monday in announcing that they will let a flight cap expire this fall.

But whether this will mean airlines use the new limits to the max in these days of scaled-back operations is uncertain.

In 2004, the FAA enforced reductions at O'Hare because of chronic delays and congestion, setting arrivals at 88 an hour instead of 90 to 160.

FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell said expansion at O'Hare played a role in the agency's decision. The flight cap was set to expire Oct. 31 but the city intends to open a runway extension Sept. 25 and new north runway on Nov. 20.

"This is an example for the rest of the nation," Sturgell said during a press conference at O'Hare.

The new runway and extension are part of the O'Hare Modernization Plan, an ambitious $8 billion project that will give the airport a parallel runway system.

Ultimately, it's projected to allow O'Hare to handle 1.2 million flights a year versus 927,000 now and reduce delays from 15 to 20 minutes on average to 5 minutes.

Officials said the new runway should add about 52,000 operations annually or 56 to 70 per day.

So far, requests from airlines for the winter are for 43 additional arrivals a day, officials said.

"Without the OMP, the caps might have been permanent," Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said.

Sturgell added, "lifting caps should make it easier for the airlines to respond to the market."

However, in recent weeks, industry giants American and United airlines have instituted flight reductions because of rising fuel costs.

American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said the company was disappointed and had asked the caps be kept in place for another year to ensure O'Hare was operating dependably.

Part of the reason American was cutting O'Hare flights was because of reliability problems, Fagan said, adding in an e-mail, "we hope the FAA would not allow other airlines to backfill and re-create the delay environment."

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said the decision was no surprise.

"Our focus is on improving performance and reliability at O'Hare," McCarthy said. "The short-term solution was the caps, the long solution is expansion of the airport."

FAA officials also announced O'Hare will be designated a Level 2 airport according to an international standard that mandates carriers present schedules six months ahead of time. This will allow the agency to watch on-time performance, Sturgell said.