CHICAGO
New path into Midway Airport doesn't
fly for South, SW Side areas
SUN, 05/11/2014 - 8:46PM
ROSALIND ROSSI
Northeast of Midway Airport, an airplane comes in for a
landing. Landing patterns have changed and more planes
are flying over parts of the Bridgeport, Armour Square and
Douglas neighborhoods and perhaps parts of McKinley
Park. | Al Podgorski/Sun-Times Media
Bridgeport resident Peggy Weyer said she’s seen
planes overhead before, but nothing like the
recent onslaught — virtually every few minutes
at times — and never this low.
Folks in Bridgeport have been looking to the
skies in recent weeks, wondering why they are
suddenly hearing hundreds of planes some days
headed into Midway Airport about 7 miles
away.
She’s even suddenly noticed planes with their
lights on and wheels down.
“If I can read what’s on the plane and know
what type of plane it is, it’s low,’’ Weyer said.
“In 30 years, I’ve not heard noise like we are
hearing now,’’ said Kathy Krugler, 64, of
Bridgeport. “It’s unbelievable.’’
But FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said the
new approach does not bring planes into
Midway at lower altitudes — although it does
bring them in over different areas.
Turns out, since Feb. 6, a new flight path into
Midway’s Runway 22L has been sending a
barrage of planes over a new swath of South
Side and Southwest Side neighborhoods.
From just west of the lakeshore to the Lake
Michigan shoreline, planes generally are
approaching at an altitude of 2,500 to 1,500 feet,
Molinaro said.
That includes portions of the Bridgeport,
Armour Square and Douglas neighborhoods and
perhaps parts of McKinley Park, according to
estimates pieced together by the Chicago SunTimes from Federal Aviation Administration
maps.
As a comparison, the Willis Tower is 1,450 feet
high. That means by the time planes reach
Bridgeport — about a mile west of the lakeshore
— they would be flying at around the height of
the Willis Tower.
Of all the wards, the 11th — home to once cloutheavy Bridgeport — has the largest land mass
affected by the flight changes, maps indicate.
When Runway 22L is used for arrivals — which
is when winds are blowing from the south or
southwest — it takes in 300 to 400 flights a day,
a controller at Midway Air Traffic Control said.
Planes landing on runway 22L or a parallel one
with a similar flight path were used 27 percent
of the time in March, or roughly one out of
every four days.
The new Midway approach is “permanent,’’
Molinaro said, and allows a more direct route
into Midway rather than the fish hook approach
used previously.
Following I-55 and the Chicago Sanitary and
Ship Canal, the route flies over fewer residences
and a smaller area, saving fuel and time for
airlines and travelers, Molinaro said. New flight
technology made it possible, he said.
“This is part of an initiative to improve
approaches so they save time for travelers,
reduce emissions in the air and fly over less
populated areas,’’ Molinaro said by email.
changes, but he did get noise complaints
afterwards.
The city worked with the Midway Noise
Abatement Commission to hold public meetings
about the changes last spring, Molinaro said, and
even soundproofed some homes before it was
launched.
He said he called Chicago Department of
Aviation Commission Rosemarie Andolino
about the complaints, and he hopes to have a
meeting with the aviation department following
even more complaints recently.
A spokeswoman at the Chicago Department of
Aviation was unable to answer questions last
week about Midway. But Krugler and Weyer
say they didn’t know about the changes until
they were hit in the face with them. That’s
becoming a familiar pattern, said Jac Charlier of
the Fair Allocation in Runways Coalition, which
is pushing for more even usage of O’Hare
runways.
About 300 to 400 planes a day, when the runway
is used, is “a lot of planes,’’ Balcer said,
although he did not remember hearing that
number before.
Some Northwest Side and suburban residents
were taken by surprise by two O’Hare flight
pattern changes since October of 2013, Charlier
said. Some Chicagoans who had lived in peace
for years 10 to 12 miles from O’Hare were
suddenly hit with jet noise, he said.
The most recent Chicago Aviation Department
report on Midway indicates first-quarter noise
complaints through March 31 out of Chicago
more than doubled between 2013 and 2014,
rising from 60 to 140.
In addition, the percent of complaints about
“low-flying” Midway planes — from both city
and suburban residents — jumped from 38
percent to 56 percent during that time.
“The best two words are, ‘Buyer beware,’ ’’
Charlier said. “This could happen to you. . . .
When you have lack of community input, this is
what happens.’’
Other changes are ahead at Midway — but
they’ll be temporary. The first of four 56-hour
overnight-only closures of another runway —
13C/31C — will start at 10 p.m. Monday and
run until 6 a.m. Thursday.
Ald. James Balcer (11th) said he couldn’t
remember if he was invited to the public
meetings about the Runway 22L flight path
The concrete runway is being replaced with
asphalt and new lighting is being installed amid
work that should end around Aug. 18.
Midway Director of Operations Costas
Simos said the airport will check with
airlines daily to ensure that other runways
can be used overnight for the 10 or 11
flights that normally operate during those
overnight hours.
The work is approved for up to $40 million
but officials are estimating costs currently at
$27 million, Simos said.