Suburban opponents of O’Hare International Airport expansion, seemingly once on the ropes in the battle against Chicago and the State of Illinois, were filled with new hope and energy Wednesday on what could be their best news yet: the financial crisis at the nation’s two largest airlines.
A regularly scheduled meeting of the Suburban O’Hare Commission, or SOC, gave opponents a chance to launch a barrage of questions about the city’s plans after American Airlines and United Airlines said a day earlier that they can’t pay their portion of the $3.6 billion terminal expansion project.
“This entire project is a house of cards, and what we’re seeing is that house of cards is falling down,” Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson said before the SOC meeting in Bensenville. “For the airlines to feel so strongly about this to go public that they can’t afford it, you know there are serious problems with their finances. And their finances are key to expanding O’Hare,” Johnson said.
The questions were being raised even as Mayor Richard Daley insisted he had no plans to scrap either the terminals or the $6.6 billion runway expansion plan and as federal aviation officials held their first public hearing on what environmental impact the runway expansion may have.
“You need the expansion of O’Hare Field,” Daley said. The mayor acknowledged the current financial woes of American and United, but added, “Eventually, they have to come back to the table.”
Though suburban leaders have achieved some success in the courtroom, their stances have often been in the minority in the court of public opinion. The group was at its lowest in December when its biggest ace-in-the-hole up to that point, Gov. George Ryan, flipped positions and backed Daley.
But in a major project such as the proposed O’Hare expansion, delays can sometimes spell victories for opponents, and the halting of the terminal project, known as World Gateway, could help swing momentum in their direction.
“Obviously, the O’Hare expansion, as designed by the city, is dead,” said Bensenville Village President John Geils, a leading opponent. He also dismissed the contention the runway expansion can proceed without the World Gateway project.
“It’s an integrated plan,” he added. “You can’t take one without the other.”
Bensenville and Elk Grove Village stand to lose about 430 acres in the expansion.
Geils and commission members also touted the plan they contend is more responsible and financially feasible: a modernization of O’Hare that would include wider runways for larger jets, terminal improvements, road access to the airport’s west side and construction in Peotone of a third regional airport.
In addition, the group heard from Steve Steckler, an airport-planning consultant it has hired, who contended the airlines’ financial difficulties are not temporary. Technological advances, the proliferation of smaller carriers, growth of corporate jet aviation and businesses’ continued cost-consciousness will lead to an industry that “will look a lot more like Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue and a lot less like American … and United.”
American and United control more than 85 percent of the flights at O’Hare, but the two cannot afford to pay for their portion of the terminal program because of serious financial difficulties, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Although Daley grudgingly conceded the terminal expansion plan will have to be put on hold, he insisted he has no intention of abandoning either project.
“It takes how many years to build terminals and runways?” the mayor asked. “Just move it out a little longer, that’s all. This is a long-term commitment.”
Despite the losses it has suffered in the last year, United officials said they still plan to proceed with paying for a portion of the runway expansion.
“We consider the runway expansion to be our No. 1 facilities project in the nation,” said Joe Hopkins, spokesman for United, which is based in Elk Grove Township.
While suburban opponents were practically proclaiming victory, city and Federal Aviation Administration officials were meeting with residents in Des Plaines for the first of two public hearings to discuss the potential environmental impacts of the runway expansion.
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Many residents wondered why such a hearing was being held, given the precarious nature of the expansion’s financing.
“Why do we need to do this?” asked Josephine Al-Naemy, a 30-year resident of Des Plaines whose home is nine blocks from a runway.
“I’m here because it still might happen, but if the airlines can’t help pay for it, then the city is in trouble.”
But Chris Arman, Chicago’s deputy commissioner for the O’Hare modernization program, said the city has no intention of stopping.
“This is moving forward regardless of what happens between City Hall and the airlines,” he said.
“We are here answering questions about the environmental impact of the expansion while financial issues are being addressed by others.”