Chicago Aviation - 2023

J999 · Wed Jan 18, 2023 4:24 pm

Just noticed that CX ORD/HKG moved loaded flights to start date of July 1. I think it had previously been April or early-May,

scaledesigns · Wed Jan 18, 2023 6:31 pm

emcm541 wrote:
EY to bring back the 351 on AUH-ORD starting March 26, 7x - https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230116-ey351

I see it on the schedule this week. So no changes then. I miss the 7879's with different colors.

emcm541 · Wed Jan 18, 2023 7:26 pm

United is adding one-off 777 service to PHX for the super bowl as follows

UA2445 ORD0900 – 1148PHX 777 09FEB23
UA1565 PHX1935 – 2350ORD 777 09FEB23
UA2207 PHX0800 – 1216ORD 777 13FEB23

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230118-ua777

worldtraveler97 · Wed Jan 18, 2023 11:04 pm

AmricanShamrok wrote:
Eolesen wrote:
It would make no sense to reconfigure the low numbered FIS corridor just because those gates are now being used predominantly for domestic arrivals and departures.

Neither the airlines or City want to lose the ability to have an international arrival on those same gates.

That appears to be just what they've done. Open to correction but international arrivals can no longer be accommodated at gates M1-M6. I believe M7 is a DL gate primarily used for domestic ops but can accommodate international arrivals as it has the sterile walkway to CBP.

The space below what is now gates M2-M8 is breakroom and office space for DL. M10/M11 still have access to customs as well as what will be gate M9 once the bag barn is torn down.

yeogeo · Wed Jan 18, 2023 11:41 pm

A China Airlines Cargo fltCI5121 operating a/c B18771 today on ORD-KIX of all routes.
Never seen a CAL 777F before... or a KIX cargo flight so I'm assuming its not a regular?

Planeboy17 · Thu Jan 19, 2023 3:13 am

J999 wrote:
Just noticed that CX ORD/HKG moved loaded flights to start date of July 1. I think it had previously been April or early-May,

Not seeing on their website yet.

MLIAA · Fri Jan 20, 2023 4:14 pm

Question regarding ORD configuration:

Landed yesterday afternoon and it looked like they were only landing 27R and 28C, and between this and other days it seems like they are reluctant to use 27C sometimes. Any reason why, other than having to shut it down for under-tow aircraft going to the hangar?

In this configuration, it seems like it would be more convenient and shorter taxis to land 28L and 28C, though I know that is never done. Any idea why?

Also, why are we still departing 9C and not 9R? Any word on eventually using 9C for arrivals?

Thanks in advance!

flycmh2009 · Fri Jan 20, 2023 4:28 pm

MLIAA wrote:
Question regarding ORD configuration:

Landed yesterday afternoon and it looked like they were only landing 27R and 28C, and between this and other days it seems like they are reluctant to use 27C sometimes. Any reason why, other than having to shut it down for under-tow aircraft going to the hangar?

In this configuration, it seems like it would be more convenient and shorter taxis to land 28L and 28C, though I know that is never done. Any idea why?

Also, why are we still departing 9C and not 9R? Any word on eventually using 9C for arrivals?

Thanks in advance!

Flew in last night myself and we landed 27R, so I'm curious as well if anyone can shed some light on this. They weren't even advertising using 27C. I'm sure it has something to do with Chicago TRACON, but who knows. Seems like it creates a lot of work for ATC on the ground when all the heavies are landing 28C and the cargo ones that go to the NE side of the field have to taxi across the field. I think I've departed from the extended 9R maybe once. Also makes you wonder why they won't use 27L for departures either. Though they never did that before the extension either. Just seems like they're not using 8 active runways to their advantage.

ORDLHR787 · Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:08 pm

Ive always had this question, too. The runway usage always seems sub-optimal. Maybe it has something to do with local noise-abatement procedures?

scaledesigns · Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:20 pm

yeogeo wrote:
A China Airlines Cargo fltCI5121 operating a/c B18771 today on ORD-KIX of all routes.
Never seen a CAL 777F before... or a KIX cargo flight so I'm assuming its not a regular?

I saw it in here a few weeks ago. Pretty soon as they get more of them that's all we will see.

United787 · Fri Jan 20, 2023 8:34 pm

yeogeo wrote:
United has opened a new C-gate United Club. The facility will seat 650.
The current under-sized (seating for 250) much maligned club will be subsumed by the Polaris Lounge next door.

https://liveandletsfly.com/new-united-c ... concourse/

My wife visited the new club the other day and said it is really nice and reminds her of the nicer Lufthansa Business Class Lounges... big upgrade not just in size!

airstatdfw · Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:59 pm

MLIAA wrote:
Question regarding ORD configuration:

Landed yesterday afternoon and it looked like they were only landing 27R and 28C, and between this and other days it seems like they are reluctant to use 27C sometimes. Any reason why, other than having to shut it down for under-tow aircraft going to the hangar?

In this configuration, it seems like it would be more convenient and shorter taxis to land 28L and 28C, though I know that is never done. Any idea why?

Also, why are we still departing 9C and not 9R? Any word on eventually using 9C for arrivals?

Thanks in advance!

The configurations depends on the needs of both the Tower and the Tracon. Many times if we have a cloud layer we will land 28C and 27R if we only have demand to land 2 Rwys, which doesn’t require a monitor on all finals to ensure proper spacing. Normally if we have a large departure push we will land 27C and 27R so both 28R and 22L are free roll Rwys.

Landing 28L means we can’t depart 22L, also there is not an off set ILS to 28L only an off set RNAV approach which is required due the spacing of 28C and 28L. There is also issues depending on which configuration MDW is on with 28L.

Departing 9C and 9R varies based on many different theories. 9C is father away from 10L, you can go different directions around the core to get to 9C. Also it is 200ft wide, so no restrictions on a/c that can take it. The A380 and 748 can’t use 9R. Some times the tracon will like to have 2 long Rwys to land and we will land 9C, 10C, and 10R and depart 9R and 10L.

With all the Rwys we do have many configurations we can use to efficiently move the traffic with the needs of the facilities working them and the demand of traffic for that period of day.

se210 · Sat Jan 21, 2023 1:12 pm

N743A was performing flight testing out of RFD yesterday (01/20/2023). This is one of two ex-Saudi Aramco Aviation B737-7AX aircraft being converted to C-40A configuration for the United States Marine Corps (USMC) by AAR Corp. at their RFD MRO:

N743A to be registered as USMC 170041 C-40A (Source: www.planespotters.net and www.planelogger.com)
N745A to be registered as USMC 170042 C-40A (Source: www.planespotters.net and www.planelogger.com)

The contract was awarded back in 2019 by the U.S. Department of Defense per this official link: Contracts For July 26, 2019 / Navy

U.S. Department of Defense wrote:
AAR Government Services Inc., Wood Dale, Illinois, is awarded an $118,616,793 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement, modification and delivery of two C-40 aircraft and associated peculiar support equipment and common support equipment for the Marine Corps (USMC). This contract is for the acquisition, modification, acceptance and delivery of two Boeing 737-700 Increased Gross Weight (IGW) series commercial aircraft that will meet USMC C-9B replacement medium lift requirements and will be designated C-40A. This statement of work (SOW) will procure and modify a 737-700 IGW series airframe and engines that will meet cargo/passenger, communication, navigation, safety and military mission system capabilities. The military mission systems consist of requirements for military navigation and communication system. The aircraft shall be certified in accordance with 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 25 (airworthiness standards) for an all-passenger configuration that can carry 121 passengers and an all-cargo configuration of eight 463L (HCU-6/E) cargo pallets. A passenger-cargo configuration (combi-configuration) shall be certified to meet 14 CFR Part 25 or military airworthiness standards that will consist of seating and cargo pallets that will provide the USMC the added mission flexibility to configure the aircraft in a cargo-passenger configuration. Naval Aviation (NAVAIR) will be responsible for the airworthiness related to the combination configuration unless the configuration falls within an existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification. The contract will also require training the aircrew (pilots, crew chiefs and loadmasters) and training for unique equipment. Work will be performed in Wood Dale, Illinois (79%); Indianapolis, Indiana (11%); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (9%); Miami, Florida (1%); and is expected to be completed in September 2021. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $118,616,793 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; two offers were received. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-19-C-0070).

Here is the corresponding press release from AAR Corp. in 2019: AAR secures $118M C-40 aircraft procurement and modification contract with Naval Air Systems Command in support of U.S. Marine Corps

In the last 2 months, N743A (using Mode S Transpoder Code: a9fdaf) has flown various test flights from RFD (on 01/20/2023, 01/18/2023, 01/06/2023, 12/07/2023, 12/04/2022, and 12/03/2022). N745A has shown no flight activity in 2022 / 2023 (using Mode S Transponder Code: aa051d) (Source: globe.adsbexchange.com)

N743A and N745A in their respective ex-Saudi Aramco Aviation color schemes:

gabik001 · Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:47 am

se210 wrote:
N743A was performing flight testing out of RFD yesterday (01/20/2023). This is one of two ex-Saudi Aramco Aviation B737-7AX aircraft being converted to C-40A configuration for the United States Marine Corps (USMC) by AAR Corp. at their RFD MRO:

N743A to be registered as USMC 170041 C-40A (Source: www.planespotters.net and www.planelogger.com)
N745A to be registered as USMC 170042 C-40A (Source: www.planespotters.net and www.planelogger.com)

The contract was awarded back in 2019 by the U.S. Department of Defense per this official link: Contracts For July 26, 2019 / Navy

U.S. Department of Defense wrote:
AAR Government Services Inc., Wood Dale, Illinois, is awarded an $118,616,793 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement, modification and delivery of two C-40 aircraft and associated peculiar support equipment and common support equipment for the Marine Corps (USMC). This contract is for the acquisition, modification, acceptance and delivery of two Boeing 737-700 Increased Gross Weight (IGW) series commercial aircraft that will meet USMC C-9B replacement medium lift requirements and will be designated C-40A. This statement of work (SOW) will procure and modify a 737-700 IGW series airframe and engines that will meet cargo/passenger, communication, navigation, safety and military mission system capabilities. The military mission systems consist of requirements for military navigation and communication system. The aircraft shall be certified in accordance with 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 25 (airworthiness standards) for an all-passenger configuration that can carry 121 passengers and an all-cargo configuration of eight 463L (HCU-6/E) cargo pallets. A passenger-cargo configuration (combi-configuration) shall be certified to meet 14 CFR Part 25 or military airworthiness standards that will consist of seating and cargo pallets that will provide the USMC the added mission flexibility to configure the aircraft in a cargo-passenger configuration. Naval Aviation (NAVAIR) will be responsible for the airworthiness related to the combination configuration unless the configuration falls within an existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification. The contract will also require training the aircrew (pilots, crew chiefs and loadmasters) and training for unique equipment. Work will be performed in Wood Dale, Illinois (79%); Indianapolis, Indiana (11%); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (9%); Miami, Florida (1%); and is expected to be completed in September 2021. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $118,616,793 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; two offers were received. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-19-C-0070).

Here is the corresponding press release from AAR Corp. in 2019: AAR secures $118M C-40 aircraft procurement and modification contract with Naval Air Systems Command in support of U.S. Marine Corps

In the last 2 months, N743A (using Mode S Transpoder Code: a9fdaf) has flown various test flights from RFD (on 01/20/2023, 01/18/2023, 01/06/2023, 12/07/2023, 12/04/2022, and 12/03/2022). N745A has shown no flight activity in 2022 / 2023 (using Mode S Transponder Code: aa051d) (Source: globe.adsbexchange.com)

N743A and N745A in their respective ex-Saudi Aramco Aviation color schemes:

Saw them both insisde AAR hangar on our RFD tour in 2021. Was wondering what will happen to them.

yeogeo · Sun Jan 22, 2023 1:10 am

I see this week SK943 CPH-ORD reverted back to the A359 from A333

gabik001 · Sun Jan 22, 2023 2:23 am

Avelo XP9541 N803XP landed from HVN on 27R around 7pm. Now is about to departure to FRG. Seems like ferry flighs.

se210 · Sun Jan 22, 2023 2:38 pm

scaledesigns wrote:
yeogeo wrote:
A China Airlines Cargo fltCI5121 operating a/c B18771 today on ORD-KIX of all routes.
Never seen a CAL 777F before... or a KIX cargo flight so I'm assuming its not a regular?

I saw it in here a few weeks ago. Pretty soon as they get more of them that's all we will see.

According to FlightAware, it looks like China Airlines Cargo B777F to ORD started on 01/09/2023 using these flight numbers so far in 2023:

CI5121 ORD-KIX-TPE 01/09, 01/11, 01/15, 01/17, 01/18
CI5136 TPE-KIX-ORD 01/11, 01/15, 01/18, 01/22
CI5216 TPE-ORD 01/09, 01/17

With today's flight CI5136 (TPE-KIX-ORD) operating as B-18772, 4 out of the 5 China Airline B777Fs will have visited ORD in January, 2023 (B-18771,B-18772,B-18773,B-18775). The remaining B777F aircraft, B-18776, is brand new and was delivered to China Airlines Cargo on 12/16/2022 but has not visited ORD yet (Source: ADS-B Exchange).

An interesting note about the B777F titles compared to the B747F is the stylized C on the B777F contains an outline of the island of Taiwan:

From the Taipei Times article in 2020: CAL unveils cargo aircraft with new body design

Taipei Times wrote:
The new jet has the word “Cargo” painted near the front, with a map of Taiwan proper placed in the letter C. Meanwhile, the words “China Airlines” have been significantly reduced and moved to near the tail, while a plum blossom, the national flower, has been painted on the vertical stabilizer.

se210 · Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:08 pm

gabik001 wrote:
Avelo XP9541 N803XP landed from HVN on 27R around 7pm. Now is about to departure to FRG. Seems like ferry flighs.

It looks like Avelo N803XT B737-8F2, operating the return flight as XP8542 (ORD-FRG), was taking the St. John's "Red Storm" Women's Basketball Team back home after their game with DePaul "Blue Demons" on Saturday (01/21/2023).

According to the forum topic 2022 NCAA Basketball Charters - Post #49:

gdavis003 wrote:
For those interested, few more of the carriers and their flight number tactics.
GlobalX: 1** is a ferry, 6** is a charter
Freight Runners/ACE: 9*** (three digits of tail number) is a ferry, three digit number is charter, four digit beginning with 1 is usually cargo
Allegiant: college charters tend to be 4***, they use one number for the charter and then the before and/or after number for the ferry I believe
iAero: 9*** for ferry, three digit number for college/other charter, 22** is pro sports, 3*** is immigration charters, 1*** is often cargo
Avelo: 85** for college charter
Sun Country: 8600-8649 or 8400-8449 is often charter, 8650-8699 or 8450-8499 is usually ferry

St. John's University is located in Queens,NY and is only ~7.5 driving miles from LGA versus ~28 driving miles from FRG. However, LGA can have a midnight curfew. St. John's has also used FRG and Avelo before per: 2022 NCAA Basketball Charters - Post #74

gdavis003 wrote:
St. John’s on an Avelo 737-700 to FLL to face Florida State in Sunrise, FL: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VXP8400/history/20221216/2319Z/KFRG/KFLL

se210 · Sun Jan 22, 2023 6:02 pm

se210 wrote:
An interesting note about the B777F titles compared to the B747F is the stylized C on the B777F contains an outline of the island of Taiwan:
From the Taipei Times article in 2020: CAL unveils cargo aircraft with new body design
Taipei Times wrote:
The new jet has the word “Cargo” painted near the front, with a map of Taiwan proper placed in the letter C. Meanwhile, the words “China Airlines” have been significantly reduced and moved to near the tail, while a plum blossom, the national flower, has been painted on the vertical stabilizer.

Update to my previous post about China Airlines Cargo B777F titles. It appears only B-18771, B-18772 and B-18773 carry the titles with the map of Taiwan placed in the letter C of the word CARGO:

B-18775 and B-18776 have a "regular" C without the map of Taiwan. A quick look through the ADB-S Exhchange logs for 2023 shows only these two aircraft are currently being used for any flights to China (e.g. TPE-HKG).

yeogeo · Mon Jan 23, 2023 2:22 pm

TF-ISH, the newest 767-304 (ER) (BCF) for Icelandair Cargo has been linking Reykjavik and Liege Belgium to O'Hare and JFK.

It has been operating KEF-JFK-KEF-LGG-KEF-ORD-KEF-LGG... hitting JFK on Tues/Thurs/Sat and O'Hare on Wed/Sun, - although I see it is here today out of synch on a Monday at O'Hare.

emcm541 · Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:38 pm

A question for the group. Picked my brother-in-law up from ORD last night on a Southwest flight. Said this was the fourth time in a past few months where his WN flight landed on time or early but had to wait 30+ mins for a gate at T5. Wasn't sure if this was an issue with T5 as whole due to still finalizing the expansion or was just limited to WN ops. Appreciate all your contributions on this site throughout the years.

emcm541 · Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:40 pm

Forgot to mention,

UA is going to 4 daily mainline ORD-SMF starting June 2, as per the United Network thread at post #299. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1480023&start=250

From the AA Network thread, starting at post #292 viewtopic.php?p=23637535#p23637535

- ORD- ABE/BOI/FLL/RNO/PBI cut for Summer
- ORD-ATL/SEA remain at only 3x daily through August (ATL is all mainline)
- ORD-ORF remains at only 1x daily

kordcj · Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:38 pm

emcm541 wrote:
A question for the group. Picked my brother-in-law up from ORD last night on a Southwest flight. Said this was the fourth time in a past few months where his WN flight landed on time or early but had to wait 30+ mins for a gate at T5. Wasn't sure if this was an issue with T5 as whole due to still finalizing the expansion or was just limited to WN ops. Appreciate all your contributions on this site throughout the years.

I believe jcwr answered this sometime last year. It’s not gate availability that’s the issue, it’s that WN wants to keep their operations consolidated to specific gates. So when their operation runs behind schedule, planes sit in the penalty box to wait for other aircraft to move. If you look at FR24, a lot of the time you’ll see a WN sitting in the penalty box off the A/B bridges or where the start of 32R used to be.

SRQLOT · Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:27 pm

emcm541 wrote:
A question for the group. Picked my brother-in-law up from ORD last night on a Southwest flight. Said this was the fourth time in a past few months where his WN flight landed on time or early but had to wait 30+ mins for a gate at T5. Wasn't sure if this was an issue with T5 as whole due to still finalizing the expansion or was just limited to WN ops. Appreciate all your contributions on this site throughout the years.

It has happened to me every time I flew into ORD on WN, but before the move to the east side. Every departure I had with WN was always late, in part I figured new staff and the obvious new passengers who had no clue of WN boarding causing long boardings.

Figured they would be more streamlined by now.

Crosswind787 · Mon Jan 23, 2023 10:22 pm

I can confirm WN aircraft sitting and waiting for 2 gates at T5. I flew back from LAS after new years on WN and we sat by 22L /28R for 15 minutes waiting for 1 of the 2 gates with WN currently at them to clear so we could park. Couldn't make sense of that with 10 other available gates open. I won't be flying WN into ORD again and will stick to MDW with them.

Also, it's a really long walk from the new end of T5 to baggage/ ATS. Seems like CDA should look at an ATS that runs the length of T5 for post security transport. (I know this will never happen but it should.) That terminal has to be a mile+ long now. DTW did it right in the delta terminal with their people mover. T5 could benefit from something like that.

Ultimately extending the new underground ats being built for the ORD expansion should run the entire terminal core length and connect all terminals, new and old, post security, like ATL and DEN. Major missed opportunity if they don't. That would also solve the long walk in T5 as the new ATS could run the majority of the length of T5 undergrond with several stations in T5

Planeboy17 · Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:15 am

Flew out ORD on Saturday and saw that E7, 9 and 11 jetbridges are all painted grey with the blue gate signage on top and blue covering for the gate check bags. Looks like these 3 gates will be used by UA soon. The other 2 remaining gates ( E15 and 17) are still white without any signage. I think these will be the Alaska gates. On the other side of E, AC still has the first 2 gates and then its UA all up to the last gate, E16. That gate had its jet bridge removed and it’s sitting on the ground. Does anyone know who will get to use E16? Also saw a couple of A320s using F18 and 16 I think. Haven’t seen UA use mainline on those gates in quite a while. I think earlier last year they did for a short time but that was probably the first time in a decade or more to have mainline use the inside F gates.

schernov · Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:54 am

Crosswind787 wrote:
I can confirm WN aircraft sitting and waiting for 2 gates at T5. I flew back from LAS after new years on WN and we sat by 22L /28R for 15 minutes waiting for 1 of the 2 gates with WN currently at them to clear so we could park. Couldn't make sense of that with 10 other available gates open. I won't be flying WN into ORD again and will stick to MDW with them.

Also, it's a really long walk from the new end of T5 to baggage/ ATS. Seems like CDA should look at an ATS that runs the length of T5 for post security transport. (I know this will never happen but it should.) That terminal has to be a mile+ long now. DTW did it right in the delta terminal with their people mover. T5 could benefit from something like that.

Ultimately extending the new underground ats being built for the ORD expansion should run the entire terminal core length and connect all terminals, new and old, post security, like ATL and DEN. Major missed opportunity if they don't. That would also solve the long walk in T5 as the new ATS could run the majority of the length of T5 undergrond with several stations in T5

What ORD needs is t1-2-3 to t5 transport on the clean side for connections.

United1 · Tue Jan 24, 2023 2:03 am

Planeboy17 wrote:
Flew out ORD on Saturday and saw that E7, 9 and 11 jetbridges are all painted grey with the blue gate signage on top and blue covering for the gate check bags. Looks like these 3 gates will be used by UA soon. The other 2 remaining gates ( E15 and 17) are still white without any signage. I think these will be the Alaska gates. On the other side of E, AC still has the first 2 gates and then its UA all up to the last gate, E16. That gate had its jet bridge removed and it’s sitting on the ground. Does anyone know who will get to use E16? Also saw a couple of A320s using F18 and 16 I think. Haven’t seen UA use mainline on those gates in quite a while. I think earlier last year they did for a short time but that was probably the first time in a decade or more to have mainline use the inside F gates.

I believe the plan (at least back in June 2022) was for E16 to be a CDA common use gate. As you said E15 & E17 were slated for AS.

se210 · Tue Jan 24, 2023 2:08 am

emcm541 wrote:
A question for the group. Picked my brother-in-law up from ORD last night on a Southwest flight. Said this was the fourth time in a past few months where his WN flight landed on time or early but had to wait 30+ mins for a gate at T5. Wasn't sure if this was an issue with T5 as whole due to still finalizing the expansion or was just limited to WN ops. Appreciate all your contributions on this site throughout the years.

Here are 3 Southwest flights into ORD from Sunday evening (01/22/2023) that took 30 to 40 minutes from landing to the M Gates:

SWA1644 (DEN-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:00; Taxis to "B Pad" at 17:09 and parks there until 17:20; arrives at M Gate at 17:30 / 30 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
SWA1621 (MCO-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:41; Holds on Y short of 28R from 17:46 to 18:15; arrives at M Gate at 18:20 / 39 Minutes (Track (1) / Track (2) / Replay **)
SWA1345 (BNA-ORD): Lands 28C @ 18:40; Taxis to "B Pad" at 18:49 and parks there until 19:14; arrives at M Gate at 19:22 / 42 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
** Source:ADS-B Exchange. Replay set to only show WN aircraft at ORD; move the Speed Control to the far right to play the replay faster

Eolesen · Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:59 pm

If they've only had enough people for two flights to be on the ground at a time, having a third gate complicates things more than holding in The Penalty Box does. Yeah, it may suck for customers, but it makes no sense to tie up the gate if you don't have anyone to work it.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

elbandgeek · Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:04 pm

Recent maps show the east security area as being completely gone. Is the plan for that to be an exit once the baggage claim work is done? It was a mess last time I went through and had to walk from M2 to the center to leave because the west exit was closed and I can image it would be even worse coming from the extension now.

Cubsrule · Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:49 pm

se210 wrote:
emcm541 wrote:
A question for the group. Picked my brother-in-law up from ORD last night on a Southwest flight. Said this was the fourth time in a past few months where his WN flight landed on time or early but had to wait 30+ mins for a gate at T5. Wasn't sure if this was an issue with T5 as whole due to still finalizing the expansion or was just limited to WN ops. Appreciate all your contributions on this site throughout the years.

Here are 3 Southwest flights into ORD from Sunday evening (01/22/2023) that took 30 to 40 minutes from landing to the M Gates:
SWA1644 (DEN-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:00; Taxis to "B Pad" at 17:09 and parks there until 17:20; arrives at M Gate at 17:30 / 30 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
SWA1621 (MCO-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:41; Holds on Y short of 28R from 17:46 to 18:15; arrives at M Gate at 18:20 / 39 Minutes (Track (1) / Track (2) / Replay **)
SWA1345 (BNA-ORD): Lands 28C @ 18:40; Taxis to "B Pad" at 18:49 and parks there until 19:14; arrives at M Gate at 19:22 / 42 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
** Source:ADS-B Exchange. Replay set to only show WN aircraft at ORD; move the Speed Control to the far right to play the replay faster

I don't know the extent to which this has resolved, but a few months ago there seemed to be some difficulty in the coordination between WN and CDOA when WN wanted to change gates because an outbound was delayed. I recall announcements by WN staff to disregard the gate posted in the terminal. That may be a problem in addition to or instead of WN's staffing levels.

jcwr56 · Tue Jan 24, 2023 6:52 pm

Cubsrule wrote:
se210 wrote:
emcm541 wrote:
A question for the group. Picked my brother-in-law up from ORD last night on a Southwest flight. Said this was the fourth time in a past few months where his WN flight landed on time or early but had to wait 30+ mins for a gate at T5. Wasn't sure if this was an issue with T5 as whole due to still finalizing the expansion or was just limited to WN ops. Appreciate all your contributions on this site throughout the years.

Here are 3 Southwest flights into ORD from Sunday evening (01/22/2023) that took 30 to 40 minutes from landing to the M Gates:
SWA1644 (DEN-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:00; Taxis to "B Pad" at 17:09 and parks there until 17:20; arrives at M Gate at 17:30 / 30 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
SWA1621 (MCO-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:41; Holds on Y short of 28R from 17:46 to 18:15; arrives at M Gate at 18:20 / 39 Minutes (Track (1) / Track (2) / Replay **)
SWA1345 (BNA-ORD): Lands 28C @ 18:40; Taxis to "B Pad" at 18:49 and parks there until 19:14; arrives at M Gate at 19:22 / 42 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
** Source:ADS-B Exchange. Replay set to only show WN aircraft at ORD; move the Speed Control to the far right to play the replay faster

I don't know the extent to which this has resolved, but a few months ago there seemed to be some difficulty in the coordination between WN and CDOA when WN wanted to change gates because an outbound was delayed. I recall announcements by WN staff to disregard the gate posted in the terminal. That may be a problem in addition to or instead of WN's staffing levels.

No reason to get into details, but lets say it wasn't an issue with the CDA on gates. Like everything in the world, if you're not communicating properly don't complain.

Cubsrule · Tue Jan 24, 2023 7:59 pm

jcwr56 wrote:
Cubsrule wrote:
se210 wrote:
Here are 3 Southwest flights into ORD from Sunday evening (01/22/2023) that took 30 to 40 minutes from landing to the M Gates:
SWA1644 (DEN-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:00; Taxis to "B Pad" at 17:09 and parks there until 17:20; arrives at M Gate at 17:30 / 30 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
SWA1621 (MCO-ORD): Lands 28C @ 17:41; Holds on Y short of 28R from 17:46 to 18:15; arrives at M Gate at 18:20 / 39 Minutes (Track (1) / Track (2) / Replay **)
SWA1345 (BNA-ORD): Lands 28C @ 18:40; Taxis to "B Pad" at 18:49 and parks there until 19:14; arrives at M Gate at 19:22 / 42 Minutes (Track / Replay **)
** Source:ADS-B Exchange. Replay set to only show WN aircraft at ORD; move the Speed Control to the far right to play the replay faster

I don't know the extent to which this has resolved, but a few months ago there seemed to be some difficulty in the coordination between WN and CDOA when WN wanted to change gates because an outbound was delayed. I recall announcements by WN staff to disregard the gate posted in the terminal. That may be a problem in addition to or instead of WN's staffing levels.

No reason to get into details, but lets say it wasn't an issue with the CDA on gates. Like everything in the world, if you're not communicating properly don't complain.

Apologies for being unclear; I wasn't trying to ascribe blame on the issue--just observing that an issue with switching/getting gates is a distinct one from staffing levels.

atrude777 · Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:36 am

New airline may be coming into town...

Contour Airlines has submitted a proposal to fly ORD-IRK and ORD-MWA as part of the EAS bids.

Contour if selected for either, or both airports would be a new airline serving Chicago-ORD.

I imagine it would serve Terminal 5, unless they can work an agreement with American, like Southern Airways Express has with United.

https://www.wsiltv.com/townnews/transpo ... aa50d.html

Southern Airways Express, while not new to Chicago-ORD, is also proposing ORD-IRK, and ORD-MWA. If selected, the route would see a Saab 340!

Alex

yeogeo · Wed Jan 25, 2023 6:52 pm

Lufthansa is sending a 744 today on LH430, due to arrive at ~1pm today (Wednesday). Just thought it curious - Haven't seen LH operating one of those to O'Hare in years.

gabik001 · Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:25 pm

yeogeo wrote:
Lufthansa is sending a 744 today on LH430, due to arrive at ~1pm today (Wednesday). Just thought it curious - Haven't seen LH operating one of those to O'Hare in years.

Seems like B744 by LH will visit ORD entire week. They started on Monday and 744 is scheduled till Friday.
I think last year we saw 744 one time.

piedmontf284000 · Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:05 pm

gabik001 wrote:
yeogeo wrote:
Lufthansa is sending a 744 today on LH430, due to arrive at ~1pm today (Wednesday). Just thought it curious - Haven't seen LH operating one of those to O'Hare in years.

Seems like B744 by LH will visit ORD entire week. They started on Monday and 744 is scheduled till Friday.
I think last year we saw 744 one time.

You might be seeing more of them this summer. From a colleague "Advanced TATL sales are much higher then last year and there might not be enough capacity if bookings continue at this pace". Possible that LF might utilize the 744 in place of the A343 on the second daily.

emcm541 · Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:58 pm

piedmontf284000 wrote:
gabik001 wrote:
yeogeo wrote:
Lufthansa is sending a 744 today on LH430, due to arrive at ~1pm today (Wednesday). Just thought it curious - Haven't seen LH operating one of those to O'Hare in years.

Seems like B744 by LH will visit ORD entire week. They started on Monday and 744 is scheduled till Friday.
I think last year we saw 744 one time.

You might be seeing more of them this summer. From a colleague "Advanced TATL sales are much higher then last year and there might not be enough capacity if bookings continue at this pace". Possible that LF might utilize the 744 in place of the A343 on the second daily.

A lot can change so please take with grain of salt but the LH Network thread is discussing double daily 748 for the summer: Starts at post #58: viewtopic.php?p=23643219#p23643219

Runway765 · Thu Jan 26, 2023 3:10 am

Any new news on O’Hare 21 and when the satellites might break ground?

se210 · Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:21 pm

emcm541 wrote:
Some service updates to report:
- F9 will be using its 240 seater 321neo on some flights on ORD-CUN and MCO-ORD from Feb. 9 - March 6 - https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230103-f9321

flightradar24 is showing what looks to be the first ** F9 A321neo into ORD on Friday (1/27/2023):

F91574 (ATL-ORD) 05:55 07:13
F9980 (ORD-PUJ) 08:28 15:10
F9981 (PUJ-ORD) 16:24 19:32
F91575 (ORD-ORD) 21:15 00:20

N605FR Airbus A321-271NX MSN#11161 "Edward the Bald Eagle"

** Source: ADS-B Exchange Website

yeogeo · Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:04 pm

Runway765 wrote:
Any new news on O’Hare 21 and when the satellites might break ground?

As far as I know, the CDA's November '22 Press conference was the source of the most recent timeline.
Considering they have said that most current airfield construction is site prep work for the OGT, you could say they've broken ground on it already. There's been a fair amount of construction activity SW of T-1, for example

If breaking ground to you means the actual laying of foundations for terminals...
all I can say is keep in mind the expected completion dates of the two Sat terminals are '27 & '28 (with 2030 the goal for OGT completion) and adjust your expectations accordingly!

The CDA also said in its presser that a challenging construction cycle begins next year (2023), which I take to mean the pace will be picking up out there in the near future.

CHI787ORD · Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:28 am

What will the new lounge situation be at T5 once everything is completed? Aside from DL which airlines will have dedicated lounges?

emcm541 · Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:22 pm

CHI787ORD wrote:
What will the new lounge situation be at T5 once everything is completed? Aside from DL which airlines will have dedicated lounges?

Great question...my best guess, is that it's DL Sky Club, the BA Lounge, the Swissport Lounge, and the SAS Lounge. Apparently the KAL Lounge and the AF-KLM lounges have shuttered and all sky team uses the Delta Sky Club. Wonder what or will replace those old lounges. Are there any other airlines that would open some type of lounge??

I think in the long term, the lounge situation will be interesting. BA is currently slatted to move to the OGT once it is running, so I think the BA lounge moves in the OGT. Probably some shuffling/moving of Admiral's Clubs and United Clubs once all is complete. I wonder if LH or AC will open a lounge here once the OGT and SATs are built.

BB78710 · Fri Jan 27, 2023 1:37 pm

emcm541 wrote:
CHI787ORD wrote:
What will the new lounge situation be at T5 once everything is completed? Aside from DL which airlines will have dedicated lounges?

Great question...my best guess, is that it's DL Sky Club, the BA Lounge, the Swissport Lounge, and the SAS Lounge. Apparently the KAL Lounge and the AF-KLM lounges have shuttered and all sky team uses the Delta Sky Club. Wonder what or will replace those old lounges. Are there any other airlines that would open some type of lounge??

I think in the long term, the lounge situation will be interesting. BA is currently slatted to move to the OGT once it is running, so I think the BA lounge moves in the OGT. Probably some shuffling/moving of Admiral's Clubs and United Clubs once all is complete. I wonder if LH or AC will open a lounge here once the OGT and SATs are built.

LH and AC don't need their own lounge at ORD. I can't imagine the OGT opening and UA not having a spectular (maybe even multi-tiered) Polaris lounge. Perhaps the first floor could be for anyone traveling in Polaris or in business class on LH, NH and other Star carriers and the second floor could be for Global Service passengers traveling in Polaris, LH first class and HON passengers, NH first class passengers, etc.

I could see AA and BA doing the same thing I imagine AA will have an equally impressive Flagship lounge with a section reserved only for customers traveling in First Class or Key members, that space could also be share with BA passengers traveling in First class while BA passengers traveling in business class could use the regular Flagship lounge.

schernov · Fri Jan 27, 2023 2:29 pm

I suspect BA will use AA lounges in OGT and will not operate their own. Question is that Aer Linugs uses BA lounge....

se210 · Fri Jan 27, 2023 2:45 pm

se210 wrote:
flightradar24 is showing what looks to be the first ** F9 A321neo into ORD on Friday (1/27/2023):
F91574 (ATL-ORD) 05:55 07:13
F9980 (ORD-PUJ) 08:28 15:10
F9981 (PUJ-ORD) 16:24 19:32
F91575 (ORD-ORD) 21:15 00:20
N605FR Airbus A321-271NX MSN#11161 "Edward the Bald Eagle"

N605FR will also be doing the same set of flights on Saturday (01/28/2023). From the Frontier Aircraft Configuration webpage, here are the A321neo seating differences between their other Airbus aircraft types/configurations:

Aircraft Layout Configuration:

A320 v1...Seats: 180..Stretch Seating: Row 1-3=32" - 33"; Row 13=35" - 38" ..Standard Seating: Rows 4-30 (ex 13)=28" - 30"..Wing Exits: 4 over wings
A320 v2...Seats: 186..Stretch Seating: Row 1-3=32" - 33"; Row 13=35" - 38" ..Standard Seating: Rows 4-31 (ex 13)=28" - 30"..Wing Exits: 4 over wings
A321reg...Seats: 230..Stretch Seating: Row 1-3=33" - 33"; Row 13=53" - 53" ..Standard Seating: Rows 4-41 (ex 13)=28" - 30"..Wing Exits: 2 fore wings/2 aft wings
A321neo..Seats: 240..Stretch Seating: Row 1-3=32" - 32"; Row 19=37" - 37" ..Standard Seating: Rows 4-41 (ex 19)=28" - 30"..Wing Exits: 4 over wings/2 aft wings

Aircraft Seat Widths**:

A320....... Aisle: 17.4"-18" ...Middle: 17.8"-19.1" ...Window: 17.1"-18"
A321....... Aisle: 16.7"-18" ...Middle: 16.5"-19.1" ...Window: 16.5"-18"
** Click the "open" link at the bottom right of the Frontier Aircraft Configuration webpage to reveal the Aircraft Seat Widths data.

glbltrvlr · Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:15 pm

BB78710 wrote:
Perhaps the first floor could be for anyone traveling in Polaris or in business class on LH, NH and other Star carriers and the second floor could be for Global Service passengers traveling in Polaris, LH first class and HON passengers, NH first class passengers, etc.

I'm afraid this line of thought has been wishful thinking ever since Polaris opened. United has created a brand distinct from any other airline for their business class product. They have no obligation and certainly no desire to dilute that brand by opening up Polaris clubs to people not traveling in the Polaris cabin.

BB78710 · Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:18 pm

glbltrvlr wrote:
BB78710 wrote:
Perhaps the first floor could be for anyone traveling in Polaris or in business class on LH, NH and other Star carriers and the second floor could be for Global Service passengers traveling in Polaris, LH first class and HON passengers, NH first class passengers, etc.

I'm afraid this line of thought has been wishful thinking ever since Polaris opened. United has created a brand distinct from any other airline for their business class product. They have no obligation and certainly no desire to dilute that brand by opening up Polaris clubs to people not traveling in the Polaris cabin.

Im guessing you misread what I actually wrote because at no point did I suggest, write or imply opening up Polars lounges to people not traveling in business class.

Right now today LH and NH passengers traveling in their respective business and first class cabins can in fact use United's Polaris Lounge at ORD so why would that change when the OGT opens?

CHI787ORD · Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:17 pm

I guess it’s not clear whether UA will be using the main OGT complex or the new satellites for most of their international flights. It wouldn’t make sense to build a new Polaris lounge in OGT if the bulk of UA’s intl flights are departing from the existing C gates or the new satellites.

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