O'Hare braces for big Fourth of July travel weekend
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A United Airlines plane takes off from O'Hare in 2025. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
The Fourth of July weekend may turn out to be another record-setting travel time for O'Hare, just as the next phase of construction begins at the global airport.
Why it matters: Americans continue to travel in record numbers despite higher airfares and fuel prices.
The latest: The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) is expecting 1.95 million passengers at O'Hare and Midway from Wednesday to Monday, July 6th.
- The holiday period is expected to be the busiest Fourth of July travel period in O'Hare history and traffic at both airports is expected to be 7% busier than last year.
Reality check: Even after FAA-imposed flight reductions aimed at easing congestion, O'Hare is still scheduled to handle more flights this summer than last year.
The latest: United said roughly 93,000 passengers departed O'Hare last Sunday and expects heavy crowds leading into the holiday weekend.
- The airline says Thursday will be the busiest travel day at O'Hare this week, with over 85,000 United passengers, a 17% increase from last year. Sunday is expected to be the second-busiest, with 78,000 United passengers.
- The TSA says it expects to screen nearly 18.7 million passengers in the U.S. between Tuesday and Monday, July 6.
- More than 72 million people are expected to travel over the weekend, setting a new record, according to AAA.
The intrigue: AAA projects 4.29 million Illinoisans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the holiday weekend, with a record 3.8 million expected to drive.
The big picture: As O'Hare prepares for another busy holiday, it's simultaneously preparing for its future. City officials cleared a major milestone in the airport's long-term expansion, approving a $1.455 billion agreement to build the new 19-gate Concourse D.
- "By locking in a price cap $21 million below budget for the new Concourse D, we are giving our airline partners cost certainty, giving passengers a clearer path to a modernized O'Hare, and giving Chicago confidence that this historic program is moving forward responsibly," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a release.
- Concourse D is the first major construction phase of the $8.8 billion ORDNext expansion, which will eventually replace Terminal 2 with a new Global Terminal and two satellite concourses.
- Construction is expected to ramp up quickly, with a tower crane arriving this month and structural steel going up next month.
The bottom line: O'Hare is handling record demand today while betting on even more travelers tomorrow.
Editor's note: This story was updated to include CDA traffic estimates.