The devastating impact of COVID-19 on the number of airline passengers using O’Hare International Airport could delay completion of the massive airport terminal modernization project, city officials acknowledge in a recent document.
While Lightfoot administration officials have said the $8.5 billion project is moving ahead in spite of the steep downturn in passengers and the revenue they generate to help fund the work, documents submitted this week to try to refinance airport debt show the city hedging its bets on the timing.
“The city continues to assess COVID-19 and its potential effects on” the project, the document reads. It’s in “the early stages of design and the estimated completion date remains subject to change due to the impacts of COVID-19 or other economic and operational factors.”
Crain’s Chicago Business first reported on the possible delay.
In a statement Friday, city Aviation Department spokesman Matt McGrath said the O’Hare project “is moving forward, period, full stop.”
“Any doubt about the City’s commitment to continuing to invest in O’Hare’s modernization and competitive position should be put to rest by the fact that we’re currently progressing with construction on three runways and a $1 billion expansion of Terminal 5,” McGrath said.
The project is in the early stages, “which has provided us the flexibility to stay on course and not make sudden decisions,” McGrath said. “On the contrary it has provided us some flexibility to move forward in a more efficient and economical way, as well as to assess longer-term impacts of the pandemic on traveler expectations.”
The city is counting on the airlines to help fund the expansion through passenger fees. But with flights canceled, jets grounded and passenger traffic plummeting because of the coronavirus, those funding sources have dropped.
The expansion will consist of a new Global Terminal and satellite concourses. The satellite concourses are being designed under the supervision of Studio Gang by Chicago architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The airport already has started on a $1.2 billion expansion of Terminal 5, which by 2021 will have 10 new gates and 75% more space for passenger amenities.
Airport officials say the expansion is needed before major construction on the larger project can begin. The city also is working on the Runway 9R extension and finishing a new 11,245-foot east-west runway.
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