Tag Archives for chicago o’hare.
A customs dog alerted to a passenger’s bag off of an arriving Amsterdam flight in Chicago on Saturday and it’s no surprise. The contents were easy to smell: raw African bushmeat that had been decomposing for 30 hours in transit, infested with maggots. The dog was so agitated that it began tearing at the plastic wrap as soon as the luggage appeared.
Videos show passengers abandoning vehicles on the highway and walking to the airport. Chicago and Illinois police are on scene to manage traffic jams but not to address illegal activity in preventing people from traveling. However some traffic lanes have just re-opened, while delays persist. The airport advised passengers to take the CTA Blue Line.
American Airlines appears to be telling flight attendants that it has plans to re-start Chicago to Honolulu flying, listing the route on the bid sheet that cabin crew use to express preferences for the flights that they will work.
A share in my social feed reminded me of this incredible story that links Chicago O’Hare and Al Capone. It’s really two stories, but stay with me until the end.
She was leaving the property at 2:30 a.m., realized she’d left her phone in the guest room they were partying in, and her friends went back to get it for her. They left her alone, apparently for an hour and she stumbled into a kitchen and into a walk-in freezer at 3:32 a.m.
American Airlines and United Airlines want Chicago O’Hare’s expansion that they signed off on in 2018 slowed down – or stopped – as the project runs $1.5 billion over budget. Somehow the carriers are surprised that a massive public infrastructure project, in Chicago no less, is spending far more than originally projected?
And in fact it’s only just the ‘next phase’ where a 24% projected cost overrun totals $1.5 billion more than expected. That’s before construction on the new terminal even starts! The project’s total cost has grown from $8.7 billion to a projected $12.1 billion. So the terminal’s overrun is only one piece of an overall $3.4 billion price increase.
On arrival at the airport two days earlier I picked up a sandwich from Tortas Frontera, so I skipped it on this visit. Heading straight to the American Airlines Admirals Club it struck me just how copious the food offerings are… at Delta Sky Clubs, where you’ll find beef, chicken, salads, and sandwiches and many more options as well, all complimentary for guests.
American Airlines sells food in its Admirals Clubs and offers a much more modest spread.
I wouldn’t normally connect flying between Austin and Chicago but for this trip it worked out perfectly.
It’s not clear what started the fight, but this actually breaks out into more than one fight. It always amazes me that at a major international airport there are numerous law enforcement agencies of all kinds on premises, and cameras literally everywhere, yet no one seems to intervene.
One City of Chicago employee had two runway incursions in a single day and thanks to union rules wasn’t even fired. Indeed, not a single one of 5 city workers who drove vehicles improperly on O’Hare runways were terminated.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
