Chicago may need new airport according to the FAA

Either the major expansion of an existing Chicago airport or the construction of a new airport will be required in order to keep pace with the region’s significantly increasing demand for air travel in the coming years, according to the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This requirement would be in addition to the current, ongoing $15 billion expansion program at O’Hare International Airport, said the acting administrator of the FAA, Robert Sturgell, on Wednesday.

Chicago’s role as a major hub in U.S. aviation is too important to not increase capacity, added Sturgell, acknowledging that there would likely be strong resistance to the project, including from area residents concerned about added noise and pollution.

“It takes a lot of local political will to move new runways and airports forward,” the administrator commented during a telephone interview.

He also indicated that other large metropolitan areas such as Atlanta and New York will need to undertake ambitious programs of capacity expansion.

Since 2000, a dozen or more new runways have opened in the U.S., and three more will open in November of this year, including one at O’Hare.

According to Sturgell, this won’t come close to be sufficient in the longer term.

Although air travel demand dropped during this year, largely due to the economic downturn, the number of air travelers is expected to reach one billion annually in the next decade.

www.faa.gov