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February 10, 2009 5:37 PM

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Doesn't surprise me at all, though the last time I commented here about the suckiness of Chicago airports ten Chicago fanboys jumped on me. Considering I used to live in western Michigan and flew about 90% of my flights through O'Hare or Midway - trust me, they SUCK. The best time was when my flight got cancelled for no apparent reason and United refused to rebook me. That was a nice long time spent in the hellhole called O'Hare.

To be somewhat fair, they did have some nasty weather in Chicago in December. That probably pushed their percentages even lower than usual.

3 replies

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UTC

February 10, 2009 6:36 PM

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@nicemarmot617: I'm a born and bred Chicagoan. Love the city, love the sports teams, love almost everything about it. The airports, however, are the travel equivalent of flaring herpes. Anyone who defends O'Hare as anything other than the shittiest airport in American is a moron, Chicagoan or not

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Mr_D

February 10, 2009 6:49 PM

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@nicemarmot617: REAL Chicagoans see this as a badge of pride. Like the rampant corruption, terrible roads, astronomical sales tax, and our lovable losers the Cubs. And the Bears, too.

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Raekwon

February 10, 2009 7:39 PM

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@Mr_D: I avoid Chicago airports if possible. Midway is better than O'Hare but like the article says, not by much. Weather does play a huge part in this. Lake Michigan makes it worse. I used to live in Hyde Park and love Chicago but the airports are a mess.

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SybilDisobedience

February 10, 2009 6:29 PM

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@nicemarmot617: Yep, used to fly from Flint, MI to Midway for connecting flights all the time. Flint was pretty good - but Midway was just awful. No experience with O'Hare, though.

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noi56u

February 10, 2009 5:38 PM

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I love that walkway between terminals at O'Hare. Diddy did it!

4 replies

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Employees Must Wash Hands

February 11, 2009 5:05 AM

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I hate that walkway, because if I have to walk through it, odds are I'm going to miss my flight on the other side.

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February 12, 2009 2:11 PM

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@Employees Must Wash Hands: Agreed. What the hell is with the transport here? Huuuuge airport, mutliple large terminals. And no fucking slidewalks to speed you along, except in the underground crossover and in ONE terminal? Bad planning.

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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

February 10, 2009 7:32 PM

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@dinger_82: That is really the only good thing about O'hare.

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melking

February 10, 2009 9:58 PM

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@Neecy: i hate that walk way between terminals because it means you're flying united and if there's anything worse than flying out of o'hare, it's flying united out of o'hare.

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February 11, 2009 3:51 PM

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@melking: Preach on! That is the sad walkway of doom: when you're on it you can't be sure you'll get to where you're going, but you can be confident you'll never see your luggage again!

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morgasco

February 10, 2009 5:42 PM

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I flew out of Midway twice last year, both time my flight back to Minneapolis (a 50 or so minute flight) was delayed by at least the length of the flight. Good times.
But, I still believe that the worst parting was taking the CTA Orange line to and from the airport.... With the slow zones it took longer to get from Midway to downtown Chicago then my flight from Minneapolis to Chicago...

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February 10, 2009 5:43 PM

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I have had numerous issues with O'Hare airport that it's sickening. The worst was when I won a trip to Australia, and I didn't even go because not only was my layover flight canceled, but all of my luggage was gone, never to be found by the fuckers. Also, almost half of my business trips went through O'Hare, and always had issues with delays and cancellations.

I never had a say on flights through the company I used to work for, because it was always picked out for me by the company secretary. Bitch probably hated me. =P

2 replies

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February 12, 2009 2:13 PM

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@xAnarChisTx: I've done the business trip through O'Hare several times too. I finally told the boss after the last time that I was not flying through O'Hare, period, even if they had to pay more for a different itinerary.

Strangely, they didn't give me any objections over this.

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February 10, 2009 7:07 PM

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@xAnarChisTx: Should have bought her flowers and a paper weight for administrative assistant's day.

Seriously, I never got the smaller companies letting an administrative assistant booking travel especially after this internet thing happened and flights were accessible online. One company I worked for had a dedicated agency for the division it was in yet the company still had the company admin person get flights/hotels.

Several years in a row much fun resulted when the company president would forget until the last minute to tell her to book hotel rooms for the biggest yearly trade convention. The rooms end up about 25 miles outside of the city and about 30 miles away from the convention location. This vexed the sales guys to no end as they couldn't drink and smooze their customers at the \"big\"$$$ hotel where all the customer's were staying.

Finally one sales guy took it over and put the company big wigs and sales in the \"big\"$$$ hotel and several of the support staff at a lesser but more local hotel. Which suited us fine since we then didn't have to carry drunk sales guys back to their rooms and we could drink, party, etc with vitual impunity from management. Downside was that the sales guy got all the frequent flyer miles and such...

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Patrick Mcgranaghan

February 10, 2009 5:46 PM

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at least O'Hare isn't a shithole like Oakland's airport

4 replies

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QADude

February 11, 2009 12:14 AM

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@Patrick Mcgranaghan: Say what you want about Oakland, but at least flights leave on time there, unlike that shithole called O'Hare. Oakland does have pretty quick security, which is saying something.

I never liked going through O'Hare, especially for connecting flights from the end of Concourse G, and have to literally run a 100 meter dash to the far end of Concourse K. For those who don't know, that's 1 kilometer.

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February 11, 2009 2:24 AM

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@QADude: Umm, you dropped a zero there.

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Ian Dorman

February 11, 2009 1:12 AM

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@QADude: Note: 100 meters is not 1 kilometer. (kilo = thousand)

~I

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February 10, 2009 8:40 PM

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@Patrick Mcgranaghan: Yeah, but you know, since the flights leave on time, you don't have to spend much more time in the shithole than you planned. Plus, OAK got some lightning fast security.

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aceball

February 10, 2009 5:50 PM

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We had some crappy-ass weather in December, snow storms every other day and subzero temps....might have contributted to the worse-than-normal performance of ohare.

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Mike Dunn

February 10, 2009 5:54 PM

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Agreed....not that i'm sticking up for O'Hare, and United specifically is terrible...but we did have unusually bad weather even for Chicago. I still would take Midway over Ohare any day of the week...they have a Potbelly's and a Nuts on Clark...the delays are more tolerable with a bag of caramel/cheddar popcorn...

3 replies

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February 11, 2009 5:34 PM

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Let's not forget Superdawg! (However, they don't serve their fries here.)@mikedunn: @mikedunn:

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Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

February 10, 2009 9:20 PM

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@mikedunn: Oh, God, I will HAPPILY take the extra 3% delays at O'Hare for the opportunity to get the airport and back without someone TRYING TO MUG ME IN MY FREAKING CAR. Midway is awful.

That said, and KNOCK ON FREAKING WOOD, I can't believe I'm about to tempt Murphy this way -- I've never actually been delayed more than a couple minutes out of O'Hare.

(Also, O'Hare has that Wolfgang Puck's breakfast place, which is like my favorite airport breakfast EVER.)

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February 10, 2009 5:55 PM

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@Mike Dunn: I have flown out of O'hare several times in the past few years, all in summer and never once did I get out on time. In one instance my plane was delayed THREE HOURS.

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philmin

February 10, 2009 5:57 PM

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How is McCarran (Vegas)? I'm flying there in July and just about everywhere I read claims its a total nightmare.

5 replies

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Grive

February 13, 2009 6:03 PM

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@philmin: Let's just say... I consider that one an incentive to choose a 3500 mile roadtrip when I've gone to Vegas.

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varro

February 10, 2009 7:47 PM

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@philmin: It's not bad, but it could be a heckuva lot worse. They know how to move crowds through the place and the baggage claim/ground transportation is very quick, considering how much traffic it gets.

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February 10, 2009 7:35 PM

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@philmin: The bad thing about McCarran is the @#*&ing tram. It makes you think you're almost to your gate, and then you find out oh, no, you get to wait in a line to get on a stupid tram to take you to the other terminal. It's ridiculous and when the airport is crowded the wait can add a lot of time. I must say though, I was there last holiday weekend and it wasn't that crowded, so it probably won't be too bad.

The airport security videos they play while you wait in line are mildly amusing too.

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Canino

February 10, 2009 6:24 PM

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@philmin: I actually kind of like McCarran. Free wi-fi at the terminals anyway. There are problems just because it's so busy, but crowds don't actually seem to stagnate in one place. It's like a giant moving crowd. They usually have plenty of security checkpoints open so the lines move fast even though they're long. Certain hotels have desks at the baggage area so you can check in right there and avoid the line at the hotel. The taxi line can be very long, but again it moves fast. The secret is to arrive and depart on days that aren't big hotel package arrival/departure days (Thursday for inbound, Sunday for outbound).

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rpm773

February 10, 2009 6:03 PM

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@philmin: It's been bad the 2 times I'm been through there. I think it has to do more with the kind and mindset of the travelers there. They're still on vacation as they board the plane to go home.

Unless you like listening to slot machines, bring some earplugs.

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February 10, 2009 5:59 PM

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Traveling through O'Hare is like being a participant in the movie \"Airplane\" - especially when it comes to gates moving constantly. It's like a grown-up version of hide and seek. A couple of years ago, a flight to Sioux Falls moved so fast and frequently that by the time we got to the moved gate, it had been moved again. Good times.

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rpm773

February 10, 2009 6:00 PM

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PHL must not have been open on the day of the survey.

1 replies

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February 11, 2009 12:02 PM

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@rpm773:
Either that, or the results were delayed until well past the time they needed to be in.

PHL is awful. Two words-Terminal F.

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February 10, 2009 6:14 PM

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What do you expect at one of the world's busiest airports and biggest connecting-flight hub located in a snow belt?

1 replies

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February 10, 2009 8:59 PM

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@MrsLopsided: Thing is, the stats would suggest there's more to it than that--the mere fact that Midway, which isn't much of a hub, scored worse than Detroit and Minneapolis (which was fourth best) is telling; Miami and Dallas are both clunking along at the bottom too, and they're not exactly snow belt.

It is a little confusing, though, since different sources are reporting different airports in the same places. I'm looking through the BTS to see if I can find the source document.

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Daniel Parmelee

February 10, 2009 6:17 PM

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O'Hare is notorious for weather delays -- their traffic controllers impose 90 minute delays the instant anything resembling precipitation falls from the sky. Midway, on the other hand, does no such thing...they're usually on-time during most mild weather (whereas O'Hare shuts down).

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February 10, 2009 6:19 PM

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I've been to Midway many times. It's not that bad. What's bad is trying to figure out the bizarro freeway system Chicago has. Better off cabbing around Chicago.

2 replies

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Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

February 10, 2009 9:22 PM

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@FrankenPC: But freeways are so much cuter when they have personal names! And when \"west\" means \"north\" it keeps the rubes out!

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Patrick Mcgranaghan

February 10, 2009 6:34 PM

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@FrankenPC: Yeah if you're a millionaire!

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February 10, 2009 6:19 PM

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I love living in Chicago. I also love leaving Chicago in my car, not by airplane!

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February 10, 2009 6:19 PM

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Foul weather. There ya have it folks! Should they fly on time and not bother to de-ice the aircraft? Meg should have mentioned this in her article synopsis.

3 replies

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Steeb2er

February 10, 2009 6:47 PM

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@flyingphotog: Bingo!

I don't have anything to back this up, but I recall hearing a stat on the news that was basically \"Chicago had received as much snow in this winter, through December, as Chicago received the entire winter last year\". And last year was a bad winter. We've had a LOT of snow.

But for the record, Midway is infinitely better than O'Hare.

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Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)

February 10, 2009 9:23 PM

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@Steeb2er: It has definitely been a crazy weather year. I'm down in Peoria (mom's in Chicago) and we've been getting the crazy too. We had a five-day weekend due to snow days. And it's 65* right now ... before Valentine's day. All my bulbs are going to get confused and come up.

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InsertPithyNicknameHere

February 10, 2009 7:47 PM

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@Steeb2er: You're correct, that was a soundbyte from Tom Skilling, ont eh WGN news. As of December 17th, we were already in our 7th snowiest December in 124 years of recordkeeping (see Skilling's blog: [blogs.trb.com])

This is not to say that O'Hare is in any fashion good even in the best of weather. But the fact that it has gotten this bad can be at least partially blamed on the weather.

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pixiegirl1

February 10, 2009 6:29 PM

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Man my last flight was delayed nearly 2 hours, but it wasn't ohares fault it was uniteds. Apparently their was a \"small gap\" on the sensor on the back of the plane they ended up taping it up with a tape that's a 100 times stronger than duct tape. I seriously did NOT want to hear that the plane I'm on is taped together as my plane is just about to take off. My flight back was even better we got back nearly 30 minutes early and we sat on the runway for a hour and a half because our gate was not open and they were trying to redirect us to another gate. I guess that one was ohares issue.

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VeeKaChu

February 10, 2009 6:48 PM

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Man, I miss the days in the late when you could just go to O'hare anytime of the day or night, park, and just walk for miles through the terminals, looking at the hardware. Nobody said \"Boo\" to you (but the foodstuffs were still gouge-tastic).

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February 10, 2009 7:04 PM

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The weather was extremely bad. Which makes this post pointless.

I've flown from Midway to Kansas City on Southwest a few times and it was always a breeze. Even when I had to check 3 bags.

Of course nothing beats the speed and free wifi of the Kansas City airport.

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RodAox

February 10, 2009 7:08 PM

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It is for some reason my favorite airport after Hawaii, I really do not care if its considered to be the worst...

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Quake 'n' Shake

February 10, 2009 7:51 PM

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It doesn't help that so many major hubs are located in places known for crappy winter weather:
Chicago, Salt Lake City, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Newark. 2 Former hubs also come to mind: Pittsburgh (U.S. Air) and St. Louis (TWA).

As much as I dislike Delta, I flew them in December just so I could fly through Atlanta and reduce the risks of a weather-related delay. I have zero regrets there.

2 replies

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t325

February 11, 2009 12:08 AM

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@Quake 'n' Shake: St. Louis is now an American hub, and hardly one at that. They've severely cut back operations in STL. And I live in STL and have flown out many times and I don't think I've ever had a flight delayed more than 30 minutes, they do a good job here.

I have to connect in O'Hare in a few weeks for a flight, both ways. Not looking forward to it.

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February 10, 2009 9:40 PM

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@Quake 'n' Shake: Yet Salt Lake City had the best on-time rate. So something is going on beyond mere weather.

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February 10, 2009 7:58 PM

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This is surprising. Maybe it's because I mainly fly SWA and they tend to get their passengers off and on quickly and get to the runway @ Midway. I flew JetBlue this weekend and we were in and out of O'Hare quickly on a Thursday and Sunday evening.

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ilves

February 10, 2009 8:22 PM

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I've been through it a few times... it's not great but nothing that stands out as worse than other airports. Don't play the slots, they have the worst odds in Vegas because bored airplane travelers have nothing better to do than sink quarters into them... its not like they have competition behind the security checkpoints.

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billy

February 10, 2009 8:34 PM

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That headline and Consumerist's article are incredibly misleading. Delays are only one of many criteria which may determine how good or bad an airport is. In fact, the article Consumerist cites to says, \"Delays at city's airports worst in nation.\" The article in no way implies that Chicago's airports are the \"worst\" in anything but that.

3 replies

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February 10, 2009 9:43 PM

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@rubinow: Yeah, but Consumerist has been playing fast and loose with headlines for a while now. What you see often isn't nearly what you get.

As an aside: I'm a Chicagoan, and as much as the huge flaws of O'Hare and Midway irritate the hell out of me, they're still better than the Bizarro-world clusterfuck of Dulles and its people-movers.

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billy

February 11, 2009 6:00 AM

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@Ubik2501: But unlike some headlines that are more tongue-in-cheek or exaggerate the situation, this one simply misstates the facts.

There is no information here to say that the a-ports are \"the worst.\" They have a bad on-time record. There is a huge difference.

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ARP

February 11, 2009 5:13 AM

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@Ubik2501: I happen to like those things. They're like a post-apocolyptic APC.

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February 10, 2009 8:35 PM

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The Chicago airports exist primarily to provide patronage jobs. Any actual air travel services provided are accidental, and Richard M. Daley (whose name is plastered on every vertical surface) apologizes for the convenience.

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ochobit

February 10, 2009 11:32 PM

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I guess I'm lucky, I live in Miami, and always travel out of MIA... and MIA was named top airport in 2008.

woot woot.

Although I travelled out of PHL a couple of years ago, and it wasn't that bad.

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Youthier

February 11, 2009 2:10 AM

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I can't imagine they'll fare much better for January. I'm on the other side of Lake MI and this was a pretty ridiculous winter. And we aren't even halfway through February.

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Anonymous

February 11, 2009 2:24 AM

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Silly me, I thought Dulles was the worst airport in the country. Flew through there in January and I thought it was a national embarrassment. But I guess all the important folks fly out of some military airport or other.

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February 11, 2009 2:56 AM

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I hate O'hare but when there are delays at least the places to stay and a lot of places to eat/relax.

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February 11, 2009 3:20 AM

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Step 1: Hiawatha line to Mitchel International
Step 2: Fly out of Mitchel instead of O'Hare or Midway
Step 3: Profit!

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February 11, 2009 4:57 AM

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Not a fanboy, or anything, but I fly in and out of O'Hare about 3 times a year, for the past 4 years. I've never had an issue. The only issue I had was landing, and waiting a good like, 15, 20 minutes, grounded, since we got there too freakin' early. THAT sucked.

Not to mention December and January freakin' SUCKED weather wise. You really want to be flying out of there with close to 12 inches of snow dropping like nobody's business?

1 replies

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ARP

February 11, 2009 5:14 AM

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href=\"#c10655809\">mannymix03: That's the thing. It sucks for delays, but is an OK airport as far as eating/drinking/transportation to the city.

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Brad Joerres

February 11, 2009 5:12 PM

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Great, I'm flying out of O'hare on Sunday...

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February 11, 2009 5:27 PM

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It's not just the weather delays that put O'Hare on the top of my avoid-at-all-costs list. The airport is horribly designed, with many connections necessitating a cross-country jog to reach your destination gate, and with very, very small gate areas which ensure you'll be standing around or sitting on that little ledge next to the people-mover as you wait hours for your delayed flight. If O'Hare were at least comfortable (think McCarran, Logan, pretty much anywhere else) it would be much more bearable.

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