I'm happy to report, by some miracle they were put on a delayed flight that departed at 3:30PM as I was being told there were no flights until the next day. A special shoutout to a member that offered to help us. We really appreciate it.

The kids love the new climbing wall I built while they were gone.

Glad that they made it back with no further problems!

I used to fly out of ORD on a semi-regular basis, as I lived in the Chicago area. The airport has evolved over the years, not really been planned, so the terminals sprawl. Chicago has a number of micro-climates, due to the lake, so a lot of variable weather. But United is the absolute worst of the major airlines, even flying out of its hub ORD. I gave up flying on them back when I lived in Illinois.

A climbing wall? I could use one of those. How much uhh how much weight does one of those things support? Come to think of it, never mind.

Good job! Been a while since flying out of ORD, always loved flying into midway in the winter, in a storm, with high winds on a SW 737....

Good to hear. Wow, huge room. The coffee table - does that have carving in the lower level under the glass? If yes, I think I have a table like that....

Not defending United. I’m a Southwest guy. But…., thunderstorms in the Chicago terminal area fuck everything up. We fly mainly to Midway airport which is where you should fly jljones but it’s a congested area when thunderstorms decide to inhabit the airspace. Perhaps a little slack is in order.

it's not just about the weather.

I flew through chicago a couple of times. since then, even if flying straight line from, say, Iowa to Maine, I'd rather fly through Texas or Georgia than through Chicago. And still probably arrive sooner and more predictably.

Midway is only dangerous if you happen to be in a station wagon across the street, when southwest is landing.

I fly thru ORD often on United, but I have not had the bad experiences others have described. Sure, once in a while (more frequently in nasty weather) a flight gets canceled and sometimes a bag gets lost (only to get on the next flight) but for us those have been rare.

We live in eastern IA, our "home" airport is just across the river in IL (Moline, MLI). Rather than deal with Chicgao area traffic, we take a United Express RJ for a 30 minute flight to ORD and then connect to the world. In the past 4.5 years since I retired we've been everywhere (man) with very few problems.

Just yesterday we got home from a ten-day vacation in Iceland (where I met SF member 229DAK), it was an RJ to ORD and 757 direct to Keflavik, both ways we had zero problems.

Maybe we've just been lucky, but we will continue flying United thru ORD.

Chicago O'Hare is a busy, and complex place.

I've waited 45 minutes just to taxi across a runway before.

As a passenger, ORD sucks. But so do many of the other busy airports like MIA, LAX, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
...We fly mainly to Midway airport...

NEWSFLASH: Southwest now serves ORD. Yesterday I saw three of their colorful 737s (I have pictures) there, it might be international (Mexico?) flights only as their www site says Terminal 5.

Until yesterday I would have bet big money they only used MDW.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
...We fly mainly to Midway airport...

NEWSFLASH: Southwest now serves ORD. Yesterday I saw three of their colorful 737s (I have pictures) there, it might be international (Mexico?) flights only as their www site says Terminal 5.

Until yesterday I would have bet big money they only used MDW.

Southwest left Newark and is moving into Miami. The turmoil of the last 18 months has created a lot of change in the industry.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
...We fly mainly to Midway airport...

NEWSFLASH: Southwest now serves ORD. Yesterday I saw three of their colorful 737s (I have pictures) there, it might be international (Mexico?) flights only as their www site says Terminal 5.

Until yesterday I would have bet big money they only used MDW.

SWA only started service to ORD a couple, or a few months ago. They do have one international flight to Cancun, the rest are domestic. Looks like AUS, BWI, DEN, DAL, FLL, RSW, TPA, LAS, BNA, MCO so far. All flights use Terminal 5, either that's the only space that was available or it was cheap(er).

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
A climbing wall? I could use one of those. How much uhh how much weight does one of those things support? Come to think of it, never mind.

Haha Para, surprisingly it holds myself (210lbs) and my daughter (49lbs) at the same time. Lots of 5" lags screwed into the studs. It's much more fun than I imagined and the kids climb it randomly all day.

Speaking of ORD, is their rail system EVER going to get back on line? It seems like it's been down 2-3 years now. Yesterday (our first international trip in 2 years) we took a bus from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2. It worked, but I prefer the train.
https://www.flychicago.com/oha...vices/Pages/ATS.aspx

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

Speaking of ORD, is their rail system EVER going to get back on line?...]

"...the “People Mover” remains closed more than 2 ½ years after work to update and expand the Airport Transit System was supposed to be substantially complete. The work has been going on for six years, and the trains have been shut down completely since January 2019.

Carrino did not provide an updated time frame for when the train might reopen, but said the system was going through the “final testing process.”

The contractor on the project was following a “systematic and deliberate procedure” to ensure train systems meet requirements, testing that included verifying the system’s response to unscheduled door opening alarms, Carrino said. Some of the systems have not achieved the required results, and are undergoing work.


Complete article:

https://www.chicagotribune.com...wnxvipyhe-story.html

More than 1 million expected to fly through Chicago Labor Day weekend, but watch out for parking headaches at O’Hare

By SARAH FREISHTAT and LAUREN ZUMBACH
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
SEP 03, 2021 AT 12:24 PM

More than a million people are expected to fly through Chicago’s airports over Labor Day weekend, twice as many as last year, but travelers driving to the airport may encounter some extra headaches. Some O’Hare International Airport parking lots remain closed and the “People Mover” train that once connected parking lots and terminals remains out of service.

At least two economy lots remain inaccessible to travelers. Lot E is closed. Lot H was converted to paid employee parking in 2019, and though some employees were temporarily able to park closer to the terminals last year as part of “pandemic mitigation efforts,” they have since returned to other lots, including Lot H, Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Christine Carrino said in an email.

The airport does not anticipate parking shortages, but if lots reach capacity staff will offer parking vouchers for the main garage, Carrino said, as they have done before.

Those who do park in the economy lots will rely on shuttle buses to get to and from the terminals, while the “People Mover” remains closed more than 2 ½ years after work to update and expand the Airport Transit System was supposed to be substantially complete. The work has been going on for six years, and the trains have been shut down completely since January 2019.

Carrino did not provide an updated time frame for when the train might reopen, but said the system was going through the “final testing process.”

The contractor on the project was following a “systematic and deliberate procedure” to ensure train systems meet requirements, testing that included verifying the system’s response to unscheduled door opening alarms, Carrino said. Some of the systems have not achieved the required results, and are undergoing work.

The Aviation Department “understands the inconvenience and impacts of not having the system active to support airport operations” but also needs it to perform reliably before opening to the public, she said.

In the meantime, both airports are expected to be busy over the holiday weekend, even as Chicago health officials recommended stricter quarantine and testing for unvaccinated travelers, with the delta variant of the coronavirus on the rise nationwide.

Nearly a million people are expected to travel through O’Hare between Thursday and Monday, with more than 210,000 flying Friday, the busiest day at O’Hare, according to the Aviation Department.

More than 200,000 are expected to fly through Midway Airport, where the busiest day will be Monday, with 45,000 travelers. Both airports anticipate seeing more than twice as many people over the holiday weekend as last year, the Aviation Department said.

Even more people will be driving. Nearly 7.4 million vehicles are expected to use the Illinois Tollway system between Friday and Tuesday, according to a news release from the Illinois Tollway. Friday will likely be the busiest day, with 1.8 million vehicles expected on the roads, up from 1.6 million on a typical day.


sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com

lzumbach@chicagotribune.com

It always intrigues me, driving in and out of ORD, how much acreage in parking is empty and blocked off, at a busy international airport. Everywhere else, its at a premium with paid private lots to cover the overage, but O'Hare seems be fine a LOT of squandered space.

Screw ORD …

Wife and I flew in yesterday and thought we were going to die on the bus ride from the international terminal to our connecting flight…

Then took an hour and a half to get the bags to go through customs…

Glad we had a 4 hour layover…