The mayor's wife gets free use of the new O'Hare runway.

City cash helps Maggie's big soiree take off: Hinz | Crain's

Why not? It's just sitting there empty.

Andolino in Wonderland

O'Hare expansion moving forward, project leader says -- chicago tribune.com

Rosemary Andolino, the project manager of O'Hare Airport expansion, says that everything is on schedule, despite it being two years behind schedule and the airlines say they won't pay for the second, most vital phase of the expansion.

The hypocrisy of affordable housing "advocates"

Not a peep was heard from them when Mayor Richard M. Daley set out to destroy DuPage County's largest and most vibrant community of low- and moderate-income families for O'Hare Airport expansion.

Read it in the Chicago Daily Observer.

Tens pounds of airplane in a five-pound bag

Here is an actual message sent from Orbitz to airline passengers who were delayed today while transferring flights at O'Hare Airport:

Passengers scheduled to arrive at Chicago O'Hare airport through the late evening may encounter delays averaging 45 minutes. The large number of flights scheduled to arrive at the airport exceeds the number of aircraft that can land hourly. This does not change your scheduled check-in time. Thank you for choosing Orbitz and have a good flight.

The answer, as aviation experts have said for years, isn't building new, inefficient runways at a small, 1950s style airport (O'Hare), but to build a new reliever airport in the south suburbs. If Mayor Richard M. Daley had not so jealously guarded his O'Hare jobs and contracts by using his political power to put a brick on the south suburb airport, it could already have been doing its job, easing traffic congestion at O'Hare.

Also posted in The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

More Problems at O’Hare Airport

If Mayor Richard M. Daley can’t get his phantasmagoric O’Hare Airport expansion plan completed in time for the 2016 Olympics, maybe he can get the Games postponed.

That’s because he has a better chance of getting the Olympics delayed than he has of realizing his airport expansion hallucination by then.

Read more in the Chicago Daily Observer

And still, they don't arrive or depart on time

O'Hare, Midway see big traffic drops

Another near disaster at O'Hare

The first new O'Hare runway hasn't even opened yet, and the National Transportation Safety Board is reporting a near midair collision between two planes there.

While on-ground runway/taxiway incursions are the number one concern of aviation safety experts, it should be noted that the skies over O'Hare are near capacity. The difficulty of keeping approaching and departing planes separate was a principle reason that Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and federal aviation officials had agreed as far back as the 1980s to add airport capacity in the Chicago region in the southern suburbs.

That south suburban airport nearly became reality and could have been in operation today, relieving O'Hare delays and providing a safer alternative had not Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley used his political influence to halt the new airport because it would compete with O'Hare for jobs and contracts.

When it comes to airports, Chicago has never heard of safety first.