If there is a petition circulating to terminate the employment of the designers of the new International Terminal at O’Hare Airport, I would like to be first on the list.
Having flown in and out of comparable terminals, some of which were probably designed in the early 1900s, in all of the major cities in over 30 countries throughout the world, I have yet to see one that rivals the debacle of the recently opened International Terminal. The movement from the airplane to any connecting domestic flights is marred by narrow walkways, extremely long walking distances, huge crowds waiting for the trams to carry them to the domestic terminals and a series of up and down escalators that make it impossible for anyone with a baggage cart to be mobile.
I have always been embarrassed in the past for foreigners at the poor treatment they receive when they arrive at the old O’Hare terminal. Now I am even more embarrassed. You had an opportunity to design a 21st century arrivals terminal and have not even rivaled some of the terminals that were designed 50 years ago in other nations. Shame on you, Chicago.
