O’Hare International Airport

The O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP) is one of the largest construction projects in the country at one of the world’s busiest airports, and is managed by the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA).

The OMP is transforming O’Hare International Airport’s airfield from an outdated system of intersecting runways into a modern parallel runway configuration to reduce flight delays and increase capacity well into the future. When the OMP is complete, O’Hare will have eight runways: six east-west parallel runways and two crosswind runways.

Four major OMP projects have already been completed. In 2008, the OMP opened a 3,000-foot extension to O’Hare’s busiest runway – Runway 10L/28R, a 7,500-foot long runway – Runway 9L/27R and a new airport traffic control tower.

The completed OMP runway projects have had a considerable and positive impact on operations at O’Hare and the U.S. aviation system. Work is well underway for OMP Completion Phase 2A, which includes: Runway 10R/28L; A South Air Traffic Control Tower to operate future Runway 10R/28L; and Construction of several enabling projects. Runway 10R/28L and the South Airport Traffic Control are scheduled to be commissioned in October 2015.

The remaining OMP completion phase projects, also known as OMP Completion Phase 2B, include another new east-west runway – Runway 9C/27C and an extension to existing Runway 9R/27L, both on O’Hare’s north airfield.

The OMP has truly been our region’s economic stimulus package for the past nine years – putting thousands of people to work, rebuilding our infrastructure and keeping businesses in our City and our state. Once complete, the OMP will create up to 195,000 new jobs and add an additional $18 billion to our region’s economy.