The report recommends halving the City Council, cutting fire department staff and privatizing Midway Airport. more ›

Fortunately temps should drop by this weekend - making it the perfect weather to sit in the Giordano's parking lot at 63rd and Cicero to watch the planes land. more ›

Patrick Daley made $708,999 from Concourse Communications less than a year after it made a contract with the city in 2006 to provide wireless access at both Midway and O'Hare. But did the Daley administration lie to the press? more ›

The two largest airlines out of Midway announced a merger this morning as Southwest Airlines plans to purchase AirTran for $1.4 billion. The new airline would assume operations by 2012 under the current plan. It comes on the heels of the previously announced United-Continental merger. more ›

No matter how long you get stuck at O'Hare or Midway (provided the airline doesn't lose track of you) and no matter what time of day or night you're sitting in the gate area, at least there's one thing you can do unencumbered now: get wasted. Besides approving that third Wal-Mart, the City Council today also unanimously approved 24-hour liquor sales at the city's two airports as well as those alcohol-filled pushcarts. Previously, alcohol sales at airports were shut down between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. every day except for Sunday when it was shut down from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. A Sunday morning flight without a Bloody Mary to ease our nerves? The horror. Anyway, if booze is your pre-flight stress reliever instead of Xanax, all 32 restaurants at O'Hare and 11 at Midway with liquor licenses now have the OK to stay open 24/7 to keep you drunk before you hit the sky because, hey, what could go wrong? more ›

• The Reader's (and former Chicagoist writer) Hunter Clauss discovers that Ald. Beale's claim that Wal-Mart is the only retail choice for Pullman isn't quite true.
• Metra has placed chief executive Phil Pagano on leave as they continue to investigate his alleged bonuses.
• Authorities have recovered a car involved in an early morning hit-and-run accident on I-94.

While we have a soft spot in our heart for most things from Iceland, this cloud of volcanic ash is kicking up some trouble even over at O'Hare. The eruption of a volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland has sent a cloud of ash into the atmosphere that's currently causing all kinds of air traffic havoc over Northern Europe, completely shutting down airports across Scotland, England, and several other countries. And while our magnificent skies are clear of ash, there some residual delays that are reaching their way across the Atlantic. Karen Pride, spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation, told the Tribune of delays at O'Hare, "There are a few flights that are starting to be impacted. There have been a couple of delays and flight cancellations because of the the volcanic ash." So far, there've been no reports of problems at Midway. If you have a flight you think may be affected, be sure to check with your airline and you can also keep track via the Aviation Department's online flight system. more ›

Numerous snow events are being blamed for the poor on-time departure rankings for the city's airports in January. Of the country's 29 busiest airports, O'Hare ranked 26th for on-time departures (74 percent) while Midway ranked last (69 percent), according to the the U.S. Department of Transportation report. As for arrivals, the two fared a bit better: Midway was 19th overall with 78 percent of arrivals on time and O'Hare was 23rd place with 76 percent of flights arriving on time. Number one overall? Seattle-Tacoma where 89 percent of departures and 86 percent of arrivals were on time. Yeah, but do they have life-size statues of the Blues Brothers? Didn't think so. more ›

The City has been given a brief reprieve in its deadline to submit plans for the proposed privatization of Midway Airport. The deadline for the submission to the FAA was for today, February 1, but the FAA has granted the City an extension until April 30. The City has been working on a plan for the privatization of the airport since the fall of 2008, but the credit crisis nixed the deal last spring. The proposal has since been resuscitated but the City has been more cautious on this second approach. more ›

Winter's first big snow is moving in right on time. And right on schedule with it are the cancellations and major delays at the city's airports. The first wave of cancellations this morning wiped out 200 flights at O'Hare while Midway saw some delays but few cancellations. As always, you can check out basic delay info here and be sure to call your airline if you have to fly today; with more snow on the way, the delays and cancellations will only increase. more ›

We've all had strange, memorable flights across the country, but nothing we've ever experienced compares to this: the Trib is reporting that a baby was born on board a Southwest flight during it's Midway-to-Salt Lake City leg. The flight, Southwest Flight #441, originated in Columbus, Ohio with stops here at Midway, SLC, and Boise before terminating in Spokane, WA. The flight made an unscheduled stop in Denver as a result of the birth; there's no word yet on the condition of either the mother or the child. Update: The Trib reports both baby and mother are fine. more ›

With today expected to be a busy day with holiday travelers returning home, the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection is conducting an undercover operation to target unlicensed cab and limo drivers at Midway, O'Hare, and other locations around the city. For those caught breaking the law, by the time prosecution is all said and done, fines and fees can top out at over $5,000. The Tribune has more on the sting. more ›

As if we needed more reasons for delays out of our bustling airports ahead of the holidays. An FAA computer glitch cause nation-wide delays this morning, including at Midway and O'Hare. As of around 9 a.m. this morning, the Trib reported minimal delays at both Chicago airports (averaging 20 to 30 minutes) and the AP was reporting the glitch had been resolved. But AirTran has already been forced to cancel almost 40 flights due to the glitch and other residual delays can be expected. A quick scan of the FAA's flight delay site shows the worst of the delays confined to the East Coast but, as always, check with your specific airline before heading out the door. more ›

Travel deal mega-site Orbitz has some news for you: O'Hare is going to be really, really busy at Thanksgiving and you should fly out of Midway instead. Of course, chances are you already knew that. And, given the way prices for Thanksgiving are almost twice as expensive as any other weekend of the year, chances are you booked well in advance and you're either stuck with O'Hare or Midway already. But in the event you've waited til the last minute (seriously, Thanksgiving is two weeks from today! Don't disappoint Mom!), Orbitz thinks Midway is the better option. more ›

Need a flu shot but find yourself too busy at this time of year to stop by a clinic? Well, now you could get one while you wait for your flight back home for Thanksgiving. The city will be offering kiosks at both Midway and O'Hare where flu shots will be available for $35 through the end of the year. [WBBM] more ›

With Mayor Daley's budget on the table and things looking grim financially for the next several years, it's natural to wonder what other city assets Daley will sale as he dips into the parking meter lease cash to help cover the 2010 budget gap. The Sun-Times Fran Spielman runs down for us what could very well be up for sale next, including another run at privatizing Midway. Daley's tried to do it before. The 99-year, $2.5 billion deal was set up by the mayor and approved by the City Council, but the deal floundered as the economy did. Another run at this deal with any number of companies wouldn't be a surprise. Spielman suggests he could also try to do the same kind of deal with O'Hare, which would bring in even more money, but roadblocks could drag out such an attempt. more ›

We don't enjoy starting our mornings by having a downright hissy fit, but reading the Sun-Times story on Mayor Daley's planned speech in which he'll allegedly admit he made a mistake with the infamous parking meter deal is throwing us into a hulk-out rage. Know why? Well, for starters: more ›

Mayor Daley's dream of privatizing Midway Airport has run into trouble as the nation's credit crisis has pushed the deal back at least six months, if not indefinitely. The April 6 closing date for the deal has been canceled, while the privately owned Midway Investment and Development Company, LLC, or MidCo for short, tries to line up more financing for the deal. The city is negotiating with the consortium backing MidCo is made up of Citigroup (yes, that Citigroup) unit Citi Infrastructure Investors, YVR Airport Services Ltd and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. to line up financing for the $2.52 billion 99 year lease deal. more ›

Mayor Daley addressed the media Wednesday evening in his typically candid fashion, taking on lazy city workers, "shovel-ready" projects for the pending federal economic recovery bill and criticism from Fith Congressional District candidates over his plan to privatize Midway Airport. Defending his sell of off city assets, including Midway, Daley said city workers are "clock watchers" who don't care about customers. "They're not customer-related. They're gonna leave at 5 o'clock. They're gonna leave at 4:30 or 4:00. I'm sorry. We're on a time clock. They walk out. But, in the private sector, when you have a customer, you're gonna stay there making sure they're happy and satisfied," Daley told the press. "We can't compete with the private sector. The private sector has a complete idea of who your customers are. Government doesn't have customers. They only have citizens." more ›

Traffic at O’Hare crawls to its lowest since 1994, which isn’t great news considering the City of Chicago is spending about $15 billion to modernize the airport by 2014. The FAA released data this week showing incoming and outgoing flights were down last year to 881,566 at O’Hare and 266,341 at Midway, the worst for that airport since 1997. more ›

The FAA's final approval of the City of Chicago's deal to privatize Midway Airport has been delayed. In September, the city leased Midway to Vancouver-based YVR Airport Services Ltd for 99 years at $2.5 billion. The FAA is still hashing out some of the financial agreements and YVR says the deal won't be finalized until April. The FAA, on the other hand, insists the work will be done before then. Given the fact that YVR manages 18 airports, it should have no trouble proving to the FAA it is capable of handling one more. more ›

Through Wednesday, we're counting down the top 8 local stories that captivated us in 2008. more ›

After an icy day and foggy night that saw hundreds of flights canceled, the transportation mess is slowly beginning to untangle itself this morning. Both O'Hare and Midway have seen some cancellations this morning, mainly stemming from "out of position" aircraft due to yesterday's extensive cancellations. Still, both airports were reporting few delays. Be sure to call ahead to your airline to check the status of your flight before heading out this morning. Not that you'd do much better driving today with all the flooding. more ›

Photo by trippchicago