Frustration boils over as ‘perfect storm’ causes more delays after landing at O’Hare

Lots of rock-solid names have been suggested for a giant boulder unearthed in June during construction at O’Hare International Airport.

But Joseph Kolar’s idea skips the puns and makes a point.

“The rock should be called: ‘Our gate is occupied,’” he told the Daily Herald.

“For at least a year, every time we land at O’Hare, the pilot announces: ‘The good news is we are early. The bad news is that our gate is occupied.’ Our plane then drives around O’Hare for 30 to 60 minutes,” Kolar explained.

The inconvenience typically occurs when the Libertyville resident flies home from Phoenix on United or American airlines.

“It is terrible. We are thinking of flying out of Midway to Phoenix,” Kolar noted.

Asked about the gate delays, aviation expert and DePaul University Professor Joseph Schwieterman said it’s not an isolated glitch.

“Delays for arriving planes and long taxi times are a one-two punch to travelers. Many trips that are proceeding smoothly end with a thud due to these problems,” Schwieterman said.

The dysfunction seems to have gotten worse since Labor Day, he added, noting that “one of O'Hare's major problems is that some gates are too small to be used by big planes, making it akin to a giant jigsaw puzzle.”

For context, O’Hare is now the busiest airport in the U.S. for operations, with United and American in a heated rivalry to expand service.

Add to the mix — the city is in the midst of an ambitious $8.8 billion ORDNext megaproject.

Workers are currently building Concourse D, a 19-gate structure on the southwest end of the airfield that will be completed in late 2028.

Later this year, construction will begin on the first phase of Concourse E, and officials will break ground on a massive Global Terminal replacing Terminal 2 in 2029.

CDA Director of Communications Kevin Bargnes explained Thursday that “all runway and taxiway work at O'Hare with the potential to significantly affect taxi times has been completed, and the ORDNext expansion program has been phased to minimize disruption to airfield operations.

“Aircraft accessing certain gates must taxi around the construction site for the new Concourse D, but that additional taxi time is limited.”

Bargnes noted that, as at other major U.S. airports, taxi times at O’Hare are influenced by a variety of factors, including airline schedules, air traffic control staffing, gate availability, weather, and the runways in use and their distance from assigned gates.

“The additional gate capacity planned through ORDNext will give airlines greater operating flexibility and help ease gate-related congestion,” he said.

United officials said the airline is “constantly working with ways to partner with the city to get creative solutions and be transparent with our customers,” adding they realize it’s frustrating for passengers.

But taxi times continue to be problematic because of airfield construction, especially with recent concrete pouring for Concourse D, which has impacted aircraft movement, they noted.

Related challenges like taxiway resurfacing and reconfigurations, as well as extreme weather this summer and runway reassignments have created “a perfect storm,” officials explained.

Schwieterman noted that “recent flight cuts mandated by the FAA are no doubt helping, but more needs to be done to help O'Hare be more efficient.”

Got a comment or question? Drop an email to mpyke@dailyherald.com.

One more thing

Speaking of O’Hare, the CDA and Volaris Airlines debuted nonstop flights between Chicago and Hermanos Serdán International Airport in Puebla, Mexico, last week. The new service will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Gridlock alert

Drivers in the Northbrook area should brace for lane reductions starting this week on the Waukegan Road Bridge over the Edens Spur (I-94), the Illinois tollway announced Friday.

It’s part of a larger bridge repair project that will wrap up later this fall. In addition to the Waukegan Road Bridge, long-term shoulder closures and short-term lane closures on I-94 are scheduled.

mpyke@dailyherald.com