O'Hare International Airport

Chicago O'Hare International Airport is an airport on the edge of Chicago, Illinois. It is in the Chicago neighborhood O'Hare. It is one of the largest airports in both the United States and the world. It is a "hub" for both United Airlines (its second largest hub) and American Airlines, meaning that flights from many cities come and go from the airport daily. It gets the most international flights of any American airport not on the East or West Coast.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport
IATA: ORD ICAO: KORD FAA LID: ORD WMO: 72530
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Chicago
Operator	Chicago Department of Aviation
Serves	Chicago metropolitan area
Location	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Opened	February 1944 (1944-02)[1]
Hub for	American Airlines United Airlines Cargo Atlas Air
Focus city for	Frontier Airlines[2] Spirit Airlines[3]
Elevation AMSL	668 ft / 204 m
Coordinates	41°58′43″N 87°54′17″W
Website	www.flychicago.com/ohare
Map
ORD Location of airport in Chicago Show map of Chicago metropolitan area ORD ORD (Illinois) Show map of Illinois ORD ORD (the United States) Show map of the United States ORD ORD (North America) Show map of North America
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4L/22R 7,500 2,286 Asphalt 4R/22L 8,075 2,461 Asphalt 9L/27R 7,500 2,286 Concrete 9C/27C 11,245 3,428 Under Construction 9R/27L 7,967 2,428 Asphalt/Concrete 10R/28L 7,500 2,286 Concrete 10C/28C 10,801 3,292 Concrete 10L/28R 13,000 3,962 Asphalt/Concrete
Helipads
Number Length Surface ft m H1 200 61 Concrete
Statistics (2018)
Passenger volume 83,245,472 Aircraft movements 903,747 Cargo (metric tons) 1.868 million Economic impact $39 billion
Sources: FAA[4] and airport's website[5][6]

The federal government of the United States reduces the amount of delayed flights in the airport in order to shift the burden of domestic flights at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.^[7]

United Airlines (including United Express) is the largest airline at O'Hare, carrying over 45% of passengers. O'Hare is the second-largest hub for United, after Houston-Bush. American Airlines (including American Eagle) has the second largest operation at O'Hare, carrying 37.08% of passengers. O'Hare is American Airlines' third-largest hub, after Dallas/Fort Worth and Charlotte-Douglas.^[8]

O'Hare has been voted the "Best Airport in North America" for 10 years by two separate sources: Readers of the U.S. Edition of Business Traveler Magazine (1998–2003) and Global Traveler Magazine (2004–2007).^[9] Travel and Leisure magazine's 2009 "America's Favorite Cities" ranked Chicago's Airport System (O'Hare and Midway) the second-worst for delays, New York City's airport system (JFK, Newark Liberty, and LaGuardia) being the first.^[10] O'Hare currently accounts for over a sixth of the nation's total flight cancellations.^[11]

The O'Hare Airport is 668 feet (204 meters) above sea level.^[12]

It is operated by the City of Chicago Department of Aviation. Most of O'Hare Airport is in Cook County. However, a section of the southwest part of the airport is in DuPage County. The Cook County portion is located within a section of the city of Chicago contiguously connected to the rest of the city via a narrow strip of land about 200 feet (61 m) wide, running along Foster Ave. from the Des Plaines River to the airport.^[13] This land was annexed into the city limits in the 1950s to assure the massive tax revenue associated with the airport being part of the city. The strip is bounded on the north by Rosemont and the south by Schiller Park.^[14]

History

The airport was constructed in 1942–43. It was made as a manufacturing plant for airplanes during World War II.^[15] The site was chosen for its proximity to the city and transportation.^[15] The two-million square-foot (180,000 m²) factory needed easy access to the workforce of the nation's then-second-largest city, as well as its extensive railroad infrastructure. Orchard Field was a small nearby farming community.^[15]

Douglas Company's contract ended in 1945 and though plans were proposed to build commercial aircraft, the company ultimately chose to concentrate production on the west coast. With the departure of Douglas, the airport took the name Orchard Field Airport. That was the source of its three-letter IATA code ORD.

In 1945, the facility was chosen by the city of Chicago as the site for a facility to meet future aviation demands. Matthew Laflin Rockwell (1915–1988) was the director of planning for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and responsible for the site selection and design of O'Hare International Airport. He was the great grandson of Matthew Laflin, a founder and pioneer of Chicago. The architect of the airport was Gertrude Kerbis.

The O'Hare is currently undergoing the largest construction projects in the United States.^[16]

In March 2014, a Blue Line train was derailed and crashed at the O'Hare train station, injuring 32 people.^[17]

Transportation

• Road vehicles enter and exit via I-190, which branches off I-90 (the Kennedy Expressway) leading to downtown Chicago. Cars may also access the airport locally from Mannheim Road, the airport's eastern boundary. Aside from cargo access on its south side, all airport traffic travels through the east side of the airport. Local residents sometimes refer to I-190 as "the world's busiest Cul-de-sac" as a result of the one way access.
• Subway trains from the Blue Line of the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' depart the terminal from an underground station that opened on September 3, 1984.
• Commuter trains from the Metra North Central Service stop at the O'Hare Transfer station, which is connected to the Airport Transit System via a shuttle bus.
• Taxi and Limo Services also provide transportation to/from Chicago O'Hare Airport.

Accidents

1057 deaths have happened as a result of accidents to or from Chicago O'Hare.^[18]

Airlines

The following airlines fly to O'Hare International Airport:^[19]

• Aer Lingus
• Aeroméxico
• Air Canada
• Air Choice One (hub)
• Air France (seasonal)
• Air India
• Alaska Airlines
• Alitalia (seasonal)
• All Nippon Airways
• American Airlines (hub)
• Austrian Airlines
• Avianca
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Cayman Airways (seasonal)
• China Eastern Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Emirates
• Etihad Airways
• EVA Air
• Finnair ^[20]
• Frontier Airlines (focus city)
• Hainan Airlines
• Iberia Airlines
• Icelandair
• Interjet ^[21]
• Japan Airlines
• JetBlue Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Jordanian
• Scandinavian Airlines
• Spirit Airlines (focus city)
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines (hub)
• Virgin America
• Virgin Atlantic Airways (seasonal)
• Volaris
• WestJet (seasonal)
• WOW Air (starts July 13) ^[22]
• XTRA Airways

The following airlines used to fly to O'Hare International Airport:

• Aeroflot
• Air Florida
• Air One
• Air Ukraine ^[23]
• Aviacsa
• Aviateca
• Braniff International Airways
• BMI
• Canadian Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• Czech Airlines
• Eastern Air Lines
• Ecuatoriana
• Finnair
• Iceland Express
• Mexicana de Aviacion ^[24]
• National Airlines
• Northwest Airlines
• Norwegian Air Shuttle
• Pakistan International Airlines
• Pan American World Airways
• Philippine Airlines
• Qantas
• Sabena
• Swissair
• TACA Airlines
• TAESA
• TAROM Romanian Airlines
• TWA
• USA3000 Airlines
• US Airways
• Varig Brazilian Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic Airways ^[25]
• Wardair Canada

Statistics

Yearly traffic

Traffic by calendar year^[26]

Year	Passenger volume	Change over previous year	Aircraft movements	Cargo tonnage
2000	72,144,244	00.64%	908,989	1,640,524
2001	67,448,064	06.51%	911,917	1,413,834
2002	66,565,952	01.31%	922,817	1,436,386
2003	69,508,672	04.40%	928,691	1,601,736
2004	75,533,822	08.67%	992,427	1,685,808
2005	76,581,146	01.38%	972,248	1,701,446
2006	76,282,212	00.30%	958,643	1,718,011
2007	76,182,025	00.15%	926,973	1,690,742
2008	70,819,015	07.03%	881,566	1,480,847
2009	64,397,782	09.07%	827,899	1,198,426
2010	67,026,191	03.83%	882,617	1,577,048
2011	66,790,996	00.35%	878,798	1,505,218
2012	66,834,931	00.04%	878,108	1,443,569
2013	66,909,638	00.12%	883,287	1,434,377
2014	70,075,204	04.45%	881,933	1,578,330
2015	76,949,336	09.81%	875,136	1,742,501
2016	77,960,588	01.31%	867,635	1,726,362
2017	79,828,183	02.40%	867,049	1,950,137
2018	83,339,186[6]	04.40%	903,747	1,868,880
2019	84,649,115	01.69%	919,704	1,788,001
2020	30,860,251	063.54%	538,211	2,052,025
2021	54,020,399	075.06%	684,201	2,536,576

Gallery

• 
  Inside Terminal 1 at O'Hare.
• 
  The walkway that connects Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 at the airport.
• 
  Inside Terminal 3 at O'Hare
• 
  Terminal 5 at O'Hare in 2006.
• 
  Planes lined up at the airport.