O’Hare expansion moving forward after airlines sign off

Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago have announced an agreement with the airline partners to proceed with the Terminal Area Program (TAP) to modernize Chicago O’Hare International Airport. 

In a statement the city said, “We are extremely grateful to United Airlines, American Airlines, and other federal, state, and local stakeholders for their valued and trusted partnership. The City looks forward to continued collaboration towards improving the O’Hare experience for millions of travelers and maintaining the airport’s status as an essential global gateway.”

To get United Airlines and American Airlines on board and to cut costs, the new proposal by Mayor Johnson would build the new global terminal first and complete the satellite concourses afterwards. While a timeline wasn’t promised by the city, the satellite concourses were promised to still be built as they bring a series of additional gates.

Designed by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang in collaboration with Solomon Cordwell Buenz and Corgan under the name Studio ORD, the global terminal would replace Terminal 2 and would let passengers transfer from domestic to international flights without switching to the current international terminal, Terminal 5.

With the approval from the airlines, the project will proceed, albeit on a new undetermined timeline.