Controllers want more staff for O'Hare.(News)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), July, 2007

Byline: Joseph Ryan jryan@@dailyherald.com Air traffic controllers warned Thursday that there may not be enough of them at O'Hare International Airport to handle a new runway late next year, threatening the project's promised flight delay reductions. Federal Aviation Administration officials disagree, saying they are on track to hire enough controllers and that the first phase of the $8 billion airport expansion will lead to fewer flight delays.

"That plan is moving forward," said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. Calling it a "huge staffing crisis," the controllers union claims an Elgin radar facility governing flights in and out of O'Hare will need about 25 new controllers by the fall of 2008 when the new north runway is set to open. The need is due...