Chicago’s $12 Billion O’Hare Rebuild Is 5 Years Late

O'Hare's new Global Terminal was unveiled in 2019 with a promised opening in 2028. Construction is now scheduled to begin in 2029 — and the terminal won't open until 2033. In 2025, O'Hare became the busiest airport in the United States by flights. Summer 2025 brought the ten busiest TSA days in its history, including the Monday after Lollapalooza. Then, in 2026, the FAA capped daily flights at O'Hare through October 2027 — and United dropped eleven planned new routes, from Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington to Kalamazoo, Lansing, La Crosse and Wausau.