ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993                   TAG: 9308220191
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: F-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Gary Washburn
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                 LENGTH: Medium


NEW O'HARE TERMINAL OPENS TO RAVE REVIEWS

Now more than two months old and solidly into the summer travel rush, O'Hare International Airport's International Terminal is winning praise from travelers and, despite a smattering of startup problems, nods of approval from city and airline industry officials.

The sprawling white building opened to incoming international flights May 27 after ceremonies in which Mayor Richard M. Daley called it "a masterpiece of modern technology, inspiring in its design and remarkable in its capacity."

"This is so much better," Bianca Danese of Chicago said after arriving at O'Hare recently on a flight from Rome. "I like the way they speed you through. Before, you just didn't know where you were going. And it's not as packed."

The building will replace a temporary facility that has been operating on the ground level of O'Hare's parking garage since 1985.

"It's a nice building," said Judy Olson, who was on her way home to South Bend, Ind., after returning from a European vacation. "It's spacious and bright."

Changes have been produced after initial people-flow problems in the terminal's tight "meet-and-greet" area, where incoming passengers are met by friends and relatives.

A vestibule area in the building has been dismantled to pick up additional floor space, and it will be rebuilt outside the structure by winter, when it will be necessary to keep cold air out, officials said.

And two television monitors have been installed so greeters can simultaneously view two doors where passengers emerge from the U.S. Customs area.

Until the monitors were put in, some people waited at one door, only to find belatedly that their arriving friends and relatives had exited through the other.

Meanwhile, four banks of video monitors that list arriving flights, now suspended from a low ceiling in the center of the meet-and-greet area, will be moved to another spot, officials said.

Less than 6 1/2 feet off the ground and outfitted with temporary padding, they represent a head-bumping peril. And, because of the monitors' location, people who mill around to read them impede traffic flow, officials said.

One of the biggest surprises in the terminal is a McDonald's that offers chicken fajitas, pizza and hot dogs - but not the fast-food chain's signature hamburgers.

The outlet doesn't have equipment to cook burgers, at least not yet, but McDonald's hopes to have them for hungry travelers eventually, a company spokeswoman said.

David Mosena, the city's aviation commissioner, said: "I would say that, overall, the terminal is going very well. The problems we've had have been relatively minor, so generally, we're very happy."

David Woodcock, chairman of the international airline group at O'Hare, said, "As far as we're concerned, things are working much better than even we anticipated."

A recent Monday offered one example of how the facility has improved operations, he said. During one busy period, there were at least four arriving planes, which, before the building opened, would have had to sit on the field for up to 40 minutes for lack of terminal capacity, he said.

But they were able to pull in immediately, permitting passengers who had been cooped up for hours to leave their planes and continue on their way, Woodcock said.

Work was accelerated on the building, at an extra cost of $8 million, to permit the opening of the lower level for arriving flights in time for the summer travel season.

Woodcock said that was done because the airlines did not want to subject their customers to "another summer in the very, very restricted" quarters of the temporary international terminal.

The upper level of the $618 million building, which will serve departing passengers and flights, is scheduled to open about Oct. 1.



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