well saying Heathrow and Dubai are fine with 2 runways is maybe a bit of an understatement… Heathrow for example operates at something like 98/99% capacity, that’s insane… they‘re looking for ways to enable more resilient operations (heathrow with debating about expansion for years and Dubai building an entire new airport)

1) They needed them. 2) They built them.

This was a very roundabout way to explain two simple things: (1) ORD has bad weather / unpredictable winds (2) more small planes fly thru ORD so need more runways

This also doesn't take into account the cargo traffic, which is heavier at O'Hare than most other airports that have the same amount of passenger traffic. The other airports focused on in this piece don't have nearly the cargo traffic.

Atlanta is number one in passengers. Chicago is number one in flights. Somehow people mix these things up.

Extreme weather issues are “rare” have you been to Chicago during winter. There day to day winter weather is extreme to everyone else.

Surprised it was t mentioned that O’hare was the busiest airport in the world for many years as a part of the need for its numerous runways.

I can still remember flying into O'Hare in December '08 and the plane actually landed some 20 minutes early. But then we *taxied around the airport for over 45 minutes* until finally reaching the gate! It was insane.

I’ve flown on airplanes as big as the 777s and as small as twin engine piston propellers into ohare. 13000km nonstop from Hong Kong and 200 km from Michigan. Really shows how diverse the traffic at ORD is.

Many times flying into Ohare on a regional (CRJ/ERJ/etc) you come in on the northern most runway and then taxi for almost as long as your flight is!

Hasn’t O’Hare also increased its cargo capacity in the last several years? This would account for some of the aircraft movements.

It’s funny how Ohare and Dubai are such mental airports for such similar reasons. Ohare is centrally located in North America so it sees a TON of smaller traffic. Dubai is centrally located between Europe and Asia so it pumps in huge numbers of international passengers.

Love videos like this. I’ve only landed at O’Hare once but the views were stunning even in the snow ❄️

You also have a lot of dedicated cargo traffic at Chicago due to the heavy railroad presence and central location of the city, which further adds to the planes in and out of ORD.

Very interesting! I left Chicago right when they got approval to expand the airport. Never had a clue that this was how the runways there worked. Also didn’t know that Mitsubishi made CRJs.

I've flown in and out of O'Hare hundreds of times. Except for my flight to France when I moved here 2 1/2 years ago, those flights occurred 20+ years ago. I've even flown into O'Hare in the right seat of a personal twin turboprop. What I noticed from this video is that runway 34/16 is GONE. That was a surprise. I flew in and out on it regularly.

This was awesome!! Drove by O'Hare yesterday and I am still amazed at this place.

thanks for the info ive always wanted to know why. And btw the video was really well put together

One nice part is the selection of different runways allows for quieter days for affected neighborhoods

Hey Love the content! Can you make a video about the comeback of A380 now that global airlines has also acquired some and its probably making a comeback!

"Mitsubishi CRJ" doesn't exist.... The correct is "Canada Regional Jet CRJ"

KORD has changed so much over the last 20 years or so.....I didn't even realize both the old 14-32's were now completely gone. The fact KORD is a hub for both American and United, and the proliferation of all the RJ traffic, made things much worse from a traffic congestion perspective for the old 6 intersecting runway configuration. One of the interesting things about flying into and out of the old KORD configuration was the traffic patterns of arrivals and departures when using the non-parallel runways simultaneously. I distinctly remember being on an arriving flight on approach, and looking out the window seeing a departing flight pass right behind us at what I thought was way too close. I am sure the old configuration must have kept ATC and the pilots on their toes, relying on their TCAS, especially in low visibility conditions. I would think if KLAX can manage with 4 parallels, and KATL with 5 parallels, KORD should be able to manage with the same. If you want to talk about runway limitations, you should do a video on San Diego (KSAN) that operates with a single runway, which is unusual for an airport in a city of that size.

I think you should do a video about the people movers of Dulles Airport. Dulles has 4 runways and plans to have a 5th runway that parallels their 12/30 runway. If that happens, Dulles should handle parallel takeoffs with a separation longer than the parallel takeoffs seen at San Francisco International Airport.

O'hare is also in the middle of an $8.5 billion terminal upgrade under the ORD21 project which is adding 2 new satellite terminals and rebuilding terminal 2 into a "global terminal". So it's adding 25% more gate space while allowing for additional satellite terminals to be built to the west if need be in the future.

This is interesting I am subscribing. Maybe next you can do why DEN has the longest Runway.

Keep up the good way! The subscribers will come!

Atlanta has a 6th parallel runway planned in the future

I loved it. So interresting. AMS has 7 runways. It's an Amazing airport.

Interior airport footage at 4:32 is from DTW (Detroit), not ORD.

Chicago's other major airport, Chicago Midway, has four runways. That's 12 runways within 15 miles of downtown and within 15 miles of each other.

Is this video AI generated?

Chicago O'Hare was a cool airport to fly into. But that taxing time was whoa. Landed on time with 30 minutes to spare. But by the time we got to the gate. My connecting flight was boarding. Thankfully it was in the same Terminal.

It's sorta wild that you're using random B-roll if different airports. At 4:30ish the teriyoure showing isn't ORD, it's DTW's McNamara terminal.

To be honest, it seems like 22R is used more during the Chicago air show than for crosswinds

O’Hare used to have Runways 14R-32L and Runway 14L-32R. They stopped using them. Plus runway 4L-22R is rarely used. It’s crazy

I only used O’Hare to transfer to connecting flight but Detroit and Minneapolis or DFW was more convenient.

Chicago O'Hare is a major US hub, somewhat connecting people from the East to the West and probably even as a major hub between the US and Canada as well. As such, you need many runways to handle the traffic. I believe at one point and this may still be true, there is a plane taking off or landing like every 30 seconds (if you factor in that no flights take off/land bewteen the hours of midnight or 1 am to 5am; some red-eye flights may leave late but I think there is no flights after 1am because its location among other things.

the script is a little reptitive but thanks for sharing i had no idea ORD had that many runways despite flying thru there so many times

to compare the total terminal area of ORD and DXB, DXB is with more larger area of terminal than DXB, Their T3 is the largest terminal in the world with more than 1.7Million SqM For ORD, it is a central hub of USA and it is the most aircraft movement in the world for many years due to huge numbers of interchange flights I agree that to have more runway for better flexibility of runway usage.

I can tell you that as a former fueler at ohare it really is one of a kind.

This video repeats the same information over and over and over but with slightly different wording. Let's sum it up. Chicago O'Hare has 8 runways: 1. Because of wildly varying wind/weather conditions 2. The high number of takeoffs since it MOSTLY serves regional and domestic flights (81 ppp with 8 runways vs 180 ppp with 2 runways @ Dubai) The end.

Chicago also does a lot of cargo flights, both national and international. This also further reduces the average number of passengers per aircraft movement.

Was this narrated and written by AI. Such weird grammer

I guess 32R is gone where AA191 took off from in May 1979 and crashed by the trailer park on Touhy Ave. I'll never forget that...

I have been to O'Hara Airport once cause I went up their for a trip with my grandmother

8 runways but when summer thunderstorms arrive and aircraft spacing is doubled 20 minutes of a microburst takes 4-5 hours of delay/catch up time. Used to cross the country via DFW or ORD 20 times a year. I got good at watching weather and arranging trips to avoid thunderstorms.

Love it!

How does dedicated cargo ops impact plane movements?

My brain got derailed when you said Mitsubishi CRJ TWICE 💀

The other thing to consider is how large of a cargo hub chicago is as well. The south runway complex is practically dedicated to cargo, unpess youre the unlucky RJ

I driver by Ohare twice a day. The runway you say is rarely used (22R) is possibly the most used. planes are constantly landing using 22R over my head as I drive on i90

I have done 8 flights into Heathrow in the past 5 months and every one was delayed due to flow control based on runway shortages.

Being able to alternate runway usage would also help in extending the lifetime of the surface and reducing costs

makes perfect sense

Make a video on igi airport

Sky Harbor (PHX) has 2.5 runways (the "half" because it is much shorter than the others and mostly used by the air national guard flights and small aircraft that don't require the large runway.) One north of the terminals and one south of them and the smaller to the south of that. Because "strong winds" in Phoenix are usually "gusting to 35mph", multiple directions are not needed. So they are simply aligned east-west, which is basically the direction of those winds anyway, even though that was not originally a consideration. Tens of thousands of people pass through that airport daily with few issues. Delays are rare and are typically caused by issues at connecting airports. For example, if ORD is snowed in, PHX flights destined to ORD can't take off on time. PHX could definitely use another runway but it will never happen because the airport is surrounded by infrastructure now. At best, they will be able to relocate the guard post and cargo terminals, move the third runway a little south and extend it. They they could, say, launch from the center, land on the south, and alternate on the north as needed.

At 5:11 you show a couple of planes on final into San Francisco. A very interesting video would be about SFO and its two main arrival runways and why it so often gets delayed due to having to shut down one of them because they are too close together.

Don't forget that O'Hare (not the only airport in Chicago, as Midway is a major domestic hub for Southwest) is a main hub for two airlines, which is a rarity. So most all of the regional United and American flights either go to or come from O'Hare, along with the long haul (to the coasts) and international flights from the hub that the airlines (and their aligned partners) have. It's no wonder that ORD is one of the busiest airports on the planet.

Can you cover how Boston manages it's ridiculous airport configuration?

When Heathrow airport opened just after WWII it had 6 runways. Now down to 2 runways, partly because aircraft cross-wind tolerance limits have increased to normally 30 knots.

lol, the terminal shown at 4:35 is actually Detroit’s Metro airport, like they’re just picking random footage. Still, interesting video

Because it doesn't have 7 or 9?

Can remember back in thec1960's when it seemed like planes from New York & Boston always stopped in Chicago on way to California. Heard they now have jets that can travel from New York to Hawaii without stopping. When I flew home from Viet Nam they stopped in Japan & Alaska before we landed in California.

And depending upon which runway you land on you can easily tack on another half of an hour before you get to your gate !

They also close all but one runway overnight. Which runway remains open varies to try and spread out the noise to different surrounding communities to at least try and be a good neighbor.

Gatwick and stansted used to be raf bases, hence the small runway

now explain why it takes 35 minutes to taxi after landing to a gate at ORD

I am once again requesting better lounges at the O’Hare international Airport

I think the voiceover on this video might be AI. I'm not sure, but he makes several grammatical mistakes that I've never heard made by someone with such an impeccable American accent.

Okay, there are less seats per aircraft movement, inducing much more movements than say Dubai, but video failed to address why is that? (along with other reasons) 1) Chicago is in the middle of a continent size country with lots of routes, of all types. It's a city hub, with healthy business, and a myriad similar cities all around. To connect those, you need many flights, some routes operated several times a day for choice and flexibility, everyday, that's why the smaller planes. Cities like Dubai only have relevant demand on two axis, Middle East/Europe and Middle East/South East Asia and Oceania (mainly long haul except India). Chicago is much more similar to Atlanta, Paris, Frankfurt or Milan on that aspect than Dubai or Los Angeles. 2) What kind of city is Chicago? It's like London, Paris, Tokyo or New York. Population, ie, travelers doing businesses and goods to ship. You can't compare Chicago to a small city like Dubai, or to a poor city like Johannesburg. The city offers a huge amount of people who can afford air travel. As a comparison, take each capital of any african country, airports with one single runway mostly, because those cities cannot compare to Chicago alone in terms of wealth, population and economical activities. Even Addis Abeba or Johannesburg is nowhere near... no need for that much runways unless showing off.. 3) the reason why Charles de Gaulle or Los Angeles can cope with just 4 runways is..... O'Hare is the ONLY major airport at Chicago. Nearby is Midway, the other much farther are too small (not enough long runways) to be relevant. To compare Paris to Chicago, you must combine Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Vatry for cargo, that's 8 long runways. The same for London, New York, Los Angeles, and so many more. Actually, the isolated San Diego is one exceptionally "busy" airport. One airport such with "too many runways already" could be Sydney Kingsford Smith, or Honolulu. 4) Cargo volume. In cities like Dubai or Paris with another airport to handle time consuming cargo (un)loading, Chicago has nowhere but O'Hare. That's why the cargo traffic is so high there, no choice but cope with what you have. Sure, weather/wind is a factor, but if it was that relevant, most single runway airports would struggle half the time, though, that's not the case. A three day disrupted traffic due to polar blizzard, sure, that's something, but no, constantly changing winds is not really a cause of runway multiplication. Traffic density due to aircraft types of all size and operation, sure, many runways needed, but what I wrote above is the proper explanation of why, in the end, Chicago O'Hare dwarved every other seemingly similar airports in terms of number of runways because of geographical situation, healthy economics 360° around, and not having any other choice than that very airport.

Some inaccurate information. Do not underestimate Ohare when it comes to passenger traffic and aircraft movements as it is still one of the top 5 in the world in 2022. There are lots of flights in Ohare, and i beleive the 6 functional runways make landings and take offs faster despite several flights. Im from Chicago and I take Ohare several times. I never experienced a delay in landing due to a congested or unavailable runway. Due to more runways, landings are more efficient.

Even with that many runways, O'Hare operates at a fairly high capacity. It's not the busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft operations any more - but it's still very high on the list.

Chicago has a crap ton of freight traffic. It’s a major transportation hub and transfer between air and ground.

for some reason they're always saying it's at capacity and needs to expand... sounds like you're saying it's future-proofed

ORD looks much different than when I was based there.

You contradicted yourself with your closing statement in regards to using all 7 at once, as opposed to 6, and even 6 isn't safe to use. So in reality ORD has 5 runways. Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW), on the other hand, and surprisingly not mentioned or pictured in this video, has 7 runways, and can operate off all 7 at the same time. And the airport is getting safer with new end-around taxiways complete on the north and south ends of 35L/17R and 35C/17C, and those under construction currently on the south end of 18/36 L/R and once completed the north ends. Interesting video, though. Thanks for sharing.

London Heathrow once had 6 runways

Kudos to Chicago for having the vision (and political courage) to overall the runway layout. This will make O’Hare more competitive in the future.

Chicago also does some of the most freight movement in the country

Some other airports have ONE super long runway. DFW, I believe, is the only airport in the world with FOUR massive runways. DFW has seven runways, I think.

Denver would like to have a word with you about its 6 runways. And Dallas/Fort Worth would like to tell you about its 7 runways. Plus let’s not forget about Detroit and it’s 6 runways.

Btw, it's incorrect to say that an airport can't use a runway just because it intersects another runway. My local airport often does both, despite intersecting.

Quantity else... are all Chicago runways capable of handling code F aircraft like A380?

This video is way wordier than it needed to be

The background on ORD's runways was interesting, but everything else was painfully drawn out. The majority of the video could have been a few sentences.

It's weird watching 2-3 taking off at a time and 2-3 landing

Nah dxb having 2 runways and Heathrow having 2 makes me wonder how they even operate

wow this could have been 4 mins. super redundant. was this made by AI?

Mitsubishi makes the MRJ, not the CRJ, which is made by bombardier

I can't even sleep or work in my yard or enjoy my pool in the summer bc they chosen to put their aircraft highway directly over my house. Days on end of air traffic extremely low I'm 20 miles west there's no reason for this shit every 15 seconds I get 2 planes 1 just north 1 just south I've put my complaints on their Google reviews and spoke with federal agents who laugh at my complaints about my lack of sleep and crashing my vehicle bc I didn't sleep for days bc of the noise. I've looked into the health effects of airline noise and its tremendously effects and I'm starting to feel my blood pressure change. I can't even hold a conversation in my driveway without yelling or watch TV on full volume. Oh the federal agent responded with he could see there was 1600 flights over my house that day

It is simply not true that London Heathrow operates "just fine" on two runways. The shortage of runway capacity at Europe's busiest airport is a major problem for the city, causing untold economic hardship for trade and commerce, and an ecological disaster as virtually every arriving aircraft must be placed in a holding pattern until a landing slot is available, causing thousands of tons of wasted jet fuel burned over the city every single day, while creating noise pollution and increased risk for residents. Those stacked holding patterns have largely been eliminated in the US, due to airport coordination, assignment of reserved slots, and above all ample runway capacity at most of America's busiest airports.

1. Atlanta is building a 6th runway. 2. Chicago needs 7 because of SNOW CLEARING - they need to be able to always have one closed while ground operations clears snow off if it. 3. The USA has more movements and domestic flights because our passenger rail networks are barely existent. Needing a lot of runways, particularly in Chicago, is a function of the failure in federal transportation policy in the USA. Many of those CRJs should be honestly be train rides.

What about DFW, DTW, or LAX?

Meanwhile Mumbai Airport having more than 500 departures a day operates using only one runway

It is not a Mitsubishi CRJ. The CRJ is made by Bombardier. Canadian regional jet - CRJ

I say KDFW needs to build its 8th non-intersecting runway (well, they do intersect if you consider approaches) to throw a wrench into KORD's title. Isn't everything supposed to be bigger in Texas? Also, maybe KJFK should resurrect their 7/25s and 18/36s to have 8 as well. Not to mention a complete cluster%&# of a runway/terminal layout.

It's just so a bunch of airplanes can land at once, then you stay at the tarmac waiting for a gate to be free... for two hours.

still missing 32L @ T10 😢

the upcoming new airport in Delhi, India will have no less than 5 large runways, with a length of anywhere between 11,000 ft - 14,000 ft . . . one of the 5 runways will be reserved for the Indian Air Force . . .

Imagine how hard it must be to land a plane on a globe spinning at 1600 km/hr!!!(LOL)