I just had to go through O'Hare on my recent trip to Texas, and all I can is "Amen!"
Chicago's O'Hare International, the most frequented airport for passengers leaving Indianapolis International Airport, is also the nation's most stressful. That's according to a survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report, which placed O'Hare at the top of its "Airport Misery Index."
The magazine came up with the rankings by looking at delayed flights (33.5 percent for O'Hare and 19.6 percent for Indianapolis) and average load factors, which is the percentage of available seats that are filled with passengers.
Granted, one of the things adding to my stress was the fact that they had to put us on a new plane, and that's the kind of snag that can happen anywhere. But it's the kind of thing that seems to happen at O'Hare a lot. It's certainly not the place to be if you're bothered by noise and crowds. It's almost worth having to make an extra connecting flight just to avoid O'Hare.
And I still want to know why we can't be Baer Field International Airport.
Comments
Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but wasn't it at one time actually called Baer Field International Airport.
Leo, I'm all for naming the airport BACK to Baer Field, sans the "international" thing.
We're not REALLY an "international airport"...we just take people TO the airports that can get them out of country, that's all.
And while they're at it...move the MUSEUM part of the airport BACK to where anyone that is NOT flying out of here can view it.
Skip Miller (former FWIA admin) took me on a personal tour years ago, and it has a LOT of history of the airport attached to it. It's something that NEEDS a more public display venue.
And you can actually LEARN something in the process!
Plain old Baer Field National Airport sounds good enough. And it would be a LOT more appropraite.
;)
B.G.
Where possible, I tend to take flights that don't go through O'Hare. . . kind of like sometimes, while driving, I'll take the long way around to avoid Chicago when heading to points north west of Lafayette.
National? Not very.
From FWA, there are only 10 destinations - ATL, AZA, CLE, CVG, DFW, DTW, FLL, ORD, PIE and SFB.
It's not even a regional airport. You can't fly to Dayton, to Columbus, to Indianapolis, to Springfield, to Madison. to Milwaukee, to Minneapolis, to Pittsburg, to Lexington, to Louisville, to Memphis.
Maybe they could promote tourism by renaming the airport Weyr Cook, or call it Stapleton. No insult intended to the memory of Paul Baer, if anyone remembers him.
But I'd prefer that they go back to the original name for the airport - Smith Field. Maybe the FBO can make some money by selling naming rights for the field north of town to Pepsi.
The "international" designation has to do not with where flights come from or go to but with the establishment a few years ago of a foreign trade zone at the airport, within which companies that operate have certain duty and tax savings. Ditto on the museum, Bob.