Results tagged “airlines”

U.S. Rep Dan Lipinski of Chicago has put an a proposal before Congress that's likely to either make you nod your head in agreement or ruffle your feathers about whether or not it's really important. As the Trib explains in a profile today, Lipinski's proposal looks to install federal regulations on size limits of carry-ons. The Congressman is also mulling over a proposal that would put caps on the fees several airlines charge for checked baggage. As for the size limit, David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, questioned its feasibility, asking, "Why set standards that apply to both a large wide-body plane and a regional jet?" Check out the full story at the Tribune.

Today marks the completion of the first stage of the O'Hare expansion as its new $450 million runway opened for business. The first flight to land on the runway (the first new one in the city in 37 years) was welcomed by Mayor Daley as well as U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Aviation Administration chief Bobby Sturgell. Washington D.C.'s Dulles and Seattle's airports also had runway grand openings today. Supporters are promising that the new runway will help alleviate O'Hare's well-known delays.

Synonymous with air-travel angst for decades, O'Hare's delays persist despite a more than 8 percent fall in traffic this year. Mother Nature has been the airport's main vulnerability because when bad weather reduced visibility, controllers could land just two planes at a time -- reducing capacity by a third.

Continue reading "As New O'Hare Runway Opens, Airlines Fight More Expansion"

A firehouse on the South Side is going to be converted into the Chicago Fire Department African-American Firefighter Museum. The firehouse? Engine 100, home of the infamous, racial-slur–filled 1990 retirement party. [S-T]

American canceled 138 flights out of O'Hare today and as many as 850 flights nationally, stranding passengers and making everyone extremely grumpy.