Nov 20, 2008 5:00 am US/Mountain
New Runways Open At 3 Airports Ahead Of Holidays
Airlines Want O'Hare Expansion Project Scaled Back
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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This new runway at O'Hare International Airport is opening Thursday, but major airlines are reportedly no longer on board with the expansion plan.
CBS
At some major U.S. airports today, you'd hardly know there's an economic slowdown.
In Seattle, Chicago and near Washington, D.C., new runways are being opened up today just in time for the holidays. This, despite a projected 10 percent drop in domestic flights this winter.
In all three cities, airport officials say the new capacity is needed to ease congestion and delays.
The new runway at Chicago's O'Hare International cost more than $450 million. The one at Dulles International in Virginia cost $350 million. And more than $1 billion was spent at Seattle-Tacoma International.
A spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents U.S. carriers, says a greater challenge is to modernize airspace so that better efficiency on the ground "is matched in the air."
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is very excited about opening the new runway, but the airlines that are footing the bill for the O'Hare expansion say the plan to expand O'Hare is flawed and should be halted.
The Chicago Tribune reports that American and United airlines, along with Delta, Northwest, Continental, ANA-All Nippon and Aer Lingus, are all opposing more spending on expansion. Many of the airlines are calling the effort to move ahead with the project "premature and inappropriate" because of the decline in air travel and the uncertain future for the airline industry.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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