By Jon Hilkevitch | Another delay was announced Friday in the litigation over a possible O’Hare expansion to give the city of Chicago and United and American airlines more time to possibly negotiate a settlement, officials said.
A Cook County judge had been scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on a motion by the city to dismiss the airlines’ request for a preliminary injunction barring Chicago from selling about $1 billion in bonds to finance part of the final phase of new runways at O’Hare International Airport.
But at the request of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is mediating ongoing talks between both sides, the hearing on the city’s motion to dismiss was rescheduled to March 1.
The hearing on the airlines’ motion for a preliminary injunction was rescheduled for March 8 through 11.
The airlines’ suit contends that Chicago violated O’Hare lease agreements by pursuing the borrowing plan for the new runway construction without obtaining airline approval. The city’s position is that approval is not needed, in part because the bonds would be repaid after the current lease agreement expires.
Chicago Department of Aviation officials want to begin the $3.4 billion second phase of the O’Hare project in April, a month before Mayor Richard Daley leaves office, to ensure the project is completed and to avoid higher construction costs borne by delaying the work.
The airlines, however, prefer to hold down their near-term costs by linking the construction timetable to future increases in passenger demand for flights. United and American say existing runway capacity can handle flight volumes, which are down more than 100,000 flights annually from 2004 levels, for many years until demand grows significantly.
Daley can’t leave soon enough. He bad-mouths the two anchor tenants (united and american) and by extension the hundreds of thousands of employees who built O’hare over the decades into the hub airport it is. He will bad-mouth these local carriers who were most devastated by 9-11 and he will do it as he sucker punches them with a celebration of a cherry-picking route airline (Virgin) who did nothing to make O’hare what it is. Daley is out for himself. He knows and the country knows that this city, this state, this region, this country has enough runways for the next half century (or more). Daley is a Dictator Democrat who will crush anyone and anything that stands in his way. He takes his cues from China and the Middle East. Contracts, and his own citizens, are a nuisance to him.
With oil prices and the fees and the taxes, don’t worry Daley, you’ll be able to use those runways to nowhere as a giant shuffle board court. Fix our roads (mine fields).