A Day in the Life...

Nov. 30, 2005
Thoughts on the O'Hare expansion... Went by way of Chicago O'Hare International for the Turkey Day festivities flew a United RJ from Austin to Chicago direct, seated for some two and a half hours in seat 16D. It's a small window, but a window (if the world is going to pass you by, you might as well watch it). The laptop stayed aloft in the overhead bin; this is not a working environment, despite the flight time. Everything on time; luggage arrives. (Way to go, United.) Leaving the Avis parking lot, one enters another -- the Chicago freeway infrastructure out of O'Hare at 5 p.m. on a Friday. O'Hare is a place of fascination for me. I grew up some 20 minutes to the southwest, in the flight pattern of southerly winds. I am here today because of the fascination of watching those planes fly overhead, that and the next door neighbor who was a United pilot. (As kids we would ask him, Where are you flying to? His answer, always, was, I'm going to the moon to get some green cheese.) As a traveler, I've avoided O'Hare like the plague, despite my growing-up affection for the place. Two nights sleeping on its well-pedaled floors because of snowstorms cured me of my O'Hare addiction. (Former ORD director Mary Rose Loney once said that she had determined that when she arrived at O'Hare there were some 800 homeless people living at the airport. She helped orchestrate a homeless shelter downtown to relocate those they could find (pre-9/11, of course)). The fact that O'Hare operates as smoothly as it does is a tribute to all who work there. But look at the geography, the demographics, the highway infrastructure, the industry all around. This is not an airport that needs to grow. Nor is it a place that needs to be reconstructing its runway setup when it is the cornerstone of the Midwest's air transportation system. Exactly what is the next level from already being a poster child for airline delays? Chicago has an opportunity to remain the east-west keystone to commerce, but it needs another airport. Peotone is standing by. Reconstituting ORD is, from this vantage point, misguided vision. It is the consummate example of politics overtaking reason. Returning to AUS from ORD, the flight is late. (Oh well, United.) At least the luggage is at the claim. Thanks for reading.