# Why is Hartsfield-Jackson growing; O'Hare shrinking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648 "2008-08-20T07:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/1 "2008-08-20T07:12:49Z")
I understand that O’Hare was the busiest airport by annual passengers until 1998. That year, Hartsfield-Jackson took the lead. Wikipedia says that Atlanta’s airport continues to grow, while Chicago’s continues to shrink. What could be the causes this shift? ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/2 "2008-08-20T07:30:38Z")
[QUOTE=Standup Karmic] I understand that O’Hare was the busiest airport by annual passengers until 1998. That year, Hartsfield-Jackson took the lead. Wikipedia says that Atlanta’s airport continues to grow, while Chicago’s continues to shrink. What could be the causes this shift? [/QUOTE] Schedule reductions from major carriers and larger hub-spoke operations from ATL, flight caps at ORD, passenger trends, just to name a few. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/3 "2008-08-20T07:53:34Z")
I wouldn’t be suprised if the 1998 shift had something to do with poaching by DIA. DIA and O’hare serve the same basic service as Large hubs in the middle of the country in Airline thought, and both are major United hubs. Around 1998 was when DIA finally started to get confidence as the early problems had been sorted through. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/4 "2008-08-20T08:35:11Z")
Lots of reasons. 1. Major investment and expansion at Midway Airport that lured the major carriers to shift some of their routes to that airport creating a net reduction at ORD. 2. United’s overall business issues have caused a reduction in both number of flights and passenger capacity. A corresponding bump in Southwest’s traffic helped Hartsfield and Midway. 3. Overall capacity restriction around ORD due to it’s urban location. 4. Denver International increasing traffic as a central hub for United. 5. American shifting it’s hub traffic to Dallas from ORD. 6. An increase in direct flights to second tier Midwestern cities cutting back on the number of short layovers in Chicago. It’s worth noting that O’Hare still has the most flights in and out. Here’s an interesting article from a couple years back about the politics around fixing the issues at O’Hare. [http://www.atwonline.com/magazine/article.html?articleID=1063](http://www.atwonline.com/magazine/article.html?articleID=1063) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/5 "2008-08-20T09:39:31Z")
ORD will grow if current expansion plans are cleared. In the last week, a judge blocked demolition in an area of Chicago that was scheduled to begin. ORD/County/City already owned property but that doesn’t stop lawyers from extracting some additional billing time from neighborhood associations. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/6 "2008-08-20T11:51:06Z")
Judge delayed his order allowing the demolition to allow parties in Bensenville to pursue an appeal. That was on 11 August. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/7 "2008-08-20T14:51:45Z")
There is a desperate need for another runway at O’Hare. It’s having an effect on international flights as well as their domestic business. The delays in and arond the Bensonville area have been nothing short of larceny. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/8 "2008-08-20T18:31:44Z")
[QUOTE=Omniscient] A corresponding bump in Southwest’s traffic helped Hartsfield and Midway. [/QUOTE] Huh? Midway I can see, but why would Southwest’s traffic increasing help ATL? Southwest does not now serve, nor has it ever served, ATL? ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/9 "2008-08-20T18:44:54Z")
[QUOTE=Omniscient] 3. Overall capacity restriction around ORD due to it’s urban location. [/QUOTE] ORD has two cemeteries within its perimeter. They’ve toyed, I think, with moving them, but that’s not an easy sell. ORD also seems to have major access problems. Many is the time I’ve been stuck in traffic outside the airport trying to get to the departure level, for 30 minutes or longer. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/10 "2008-08-20T23:38:43Z")
[QUOTE=Huerta88] ORD also seems to have major access problems. Many is the time I’ve been stuck in traffic outside the airport trying to get to the departure level, for 30 minutes or longer. [/QUOTE] The expansion is to include a western access of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![ntcrawler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-hartsfield-jackson-growing-ohare-shrinking/460648/11 "2008-08-21T03:17:05Z")
O’Hare is enroaching on territory outside Chicago’s jurisdiction not to mention outside of Cook County. they proceeded to buy out property in and around the Bensenville area using tactics that are well… the kind that any big city with a history of organized crime could be proud of. Not to mention there being 2 historic cemetaries in the area, that they insist they can just dig up and move, which is upsetting people in the area. Throw into the mix the teamsters, the Daley political machinery pressuring its friends in high places to move away from a third airport in Peotone (which is outside of Chicago’s jurisdiction far enough that they wouldn’t be able to get a piece of the action), and the general adversity between Chicago and its suburbs and it turns into a really complicated, and really expensive battle driven by greed and ego’s.