Over the last year, O’Hare International Airport unexpectedly came to dominate U.S. passenger growth as United Airlines and American Airlines shifted more flights to the Midwestern hub.

That apparent good news for O’Hare has unexpectedly thrown a wrench in the city’s plan to construct new terminals over the next several years.

With O’Hare terminal capacity at the brink, the city says it cannot afford to close Terminal 2 to build a massive Global Terminal by 2033. Now city planners want to scrap the current construction schedule for terminal expansion set to cost most than $8 billion.

In a bond statement published last week, the city says it is negotiating with airlines about changing the sequencing of which terminals are built first.

The city and airlines agreed in 2024 to build one sa

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