Why Not Ohare?
- Thread starter tprops4me
- Start date
Cheechako
Well-Known Member
O'Hare is a huge pilot domicile for United, American, Eagle, Mesa, Skywest, did I get them all? It would be interesting to know what the ratio of locals to commuters is for each.
I think many avoid it because when it's bad, it's BAD. I was never based there, but flew in and out enough to know that there was more times than one that we would be delayed for hours. Sometimes the ATC flow delays were so long that we'd cancel our flight, skip ORD, and ferry to our overnight city. I couldn't imagine showing up early for the commute only to see DELAYED or CANCELLED all over the board.
If you live there, that's another story. The worst case there would be driving into work only to find out your flight is 3 hours delayed because the airplane is stuck in Dayton!
The O'Hare ATC is great, though. They're some of the best controllers in the world. They're thrown at the most discombobulated airport layout with arrivals that far exceed gate space. One little hicup throws the whole thing spiraling- usually it's airplanes around the terminal!!
I think many avoid it because when it's bad, it's BAD. I was never based there, but flew in and out enough to know that there was more times than one that we would be delayed for hours. Sometimes the ATC flow delays were so long that we'd cancel our flight, skip ORD, and ferry to our overnight city. I couldn't imagine showing up early for the commute only to see DELAYED or CANCELLED all over the board.
If you live there, that's another story. The worst case there would be driving into work only to find out your flight is 3 hours delayed because the airplane is stuck in Dayton!
The O'Hare ATC is great, though. They're some of the best controllers in the world. They're thrown at the most discombobulated airport layout with arrivals that far exceed gate space. One little hicup throws the whole thing spiraling- usually it's airplanes around the terminal!!
Believe it or not, RFD was my first base as an airline pilot!
We flew RFD-DTW shuttles all day.
I had an apartment in MKE but would drive down to RFD for trips.
My first leg landed in DTW during the big NWA push. I was lost, scared, confused and thinking that I'd never get the hang of it.
EDUC8-or
Well-Known Member
About 75 miles, most of it through corn fields but the last 30 or so through some pretty heavy traffic.