The Modernization Program of O' Hare in Chicago (Essay Sample)

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The Modernization Program of O’Hare in Chicago
Project Information/Description
The summary of the report findings of this paper is in regard of the modernization program of O’Hare in Chicago which was under the administration of the Federal Aviation (FAA). Its major concern focuses on how to redesign the airspace in a manner that would help in the accommodation the O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP). The OMP’s financial feasibility was also reviewed. The process of review entailed the involvement of the local and state authorities, the public and Federal agencies. Years that amount to decades have passed yet O’Hare was still plagued by congestion and delays despite of the interventions that were quite regular. The high demand for a bigger airspace forced the city of Chicago to develop the OMP in 2001 whose main goal was to construct a new runway, and to expand two more runways. In addition, O’Hare was also to accomplish the improvements of the infrastructures whose design was to increase the capacity and efficacy of the airspace (O'hare Modernization Program: Prepared for City of Chicago, Department of Aviation. Illinois?: Ricondo & Associates, 2003). The objective plan of O’Hare that is to run for about twenty years encompasses the continuing maintenance plan of rematerializing a runway and a plan for additional terminals and gates.
The city of Chicago had a plan to put into operation the OMP in two stages within a period of eight years. The program was to run until 2013 with the first phase getting done by 2009 and the second phase in 2013. The plan was also to reduce delays while increasing the capacity at the airport. The models received from the City and the FAA was to reduce the impediments of having to wait for over nineteen minutes to five minutes per flight by the end of the modernization program. The capacity of the airfield was also to be expanded from about 2,712 in a day to about 3,169 flights in a day by 2013.
There was an estimation by the City that about 2.5 billion dollars would be spent in phase two though the specifications of the project that go into detail were not to be accomplished till 2006 in which the final touches of phase two were completed. The FAA’s role was the evaluation of risks that come with the estimation of costs as a result of the alterations in the scope of the project. Labor, changes in the engineering plan and the increases in the cost of material and their effects on the OMP’s cost were also disclosed by the FAA. The FAA also played a significant role in ensuring that the schedule and the plans about finance were sensible and took into account any menace to cost that would emerge due to the slippage in the potential schedules. The FAA also ensured that the OMP romany lawsuits that would bring the construction program to a halt.
Project Constraints
The City of Chicago had assumptions that the amount of money for the construction of the OMP was to come from two main sources that included that had to have the approval of both the congress and the Federal government which took the city more duration than it was expected to attain. The 300 million dollars that was budgeted for by the City to be used in the first phase of construction was not immediately released since the Congress and FAA did not act with immediate effect. This was because the annual budget of AIP was just 472 million dollars in the financial year of 2006 which was less than the budget that was allocated for the financial year of 2005 (Sustainable Airport Construction Practices. Washington, D.C: Transportation Research Board, 2011). In addition, there were interests that were competing for the discretionary grants of AIP from the airports such as the Washington-Dulles International Airport also had master plans about the modernization of programs.
The City budgeted with the assumption that the Congress would authorize a raise in the maximum charge of PFC from 4.50 to 6.00 in a span of about eight years though they were not sure if the raise would be authorized. The uncertainty about the raise of the PFC charges meant that the city was risking its overstatement of the rise of the collections of the PFC by 241 million dollars from 2011 to 2014. The FAA thus had a difficult task of ensuring that the Chicago city had a proper plan in place that would cover all the shortfalls that come with funding from the discretionary plans of AIP and PFC. Additionally, FAA had to put the city into check about the amounts that were to be paid by every financier.
In case of any gap, that would arise due to the shortfalls of funding then the city was to issue more bonds that would address the gaps. A bond of 300 million dollars issued by the city will make the city to pay a debt service of about 24 million dollars per year. Such payments would later be reclaimed by passing the costs to the airlines by increasing the fees charges in the aircraft terminals and landing (Oecd Territorial Reviews, 2012). The sources of funding of the OMP proved to be an uphill task for the airport since there were other projects in place that were also in need of funding from the institutions responsible for giving out funds to such government programs. Furthermore, the airport also had to battle with legal issues in courts due to the ...