Mayor of Chicago Richard Daley and the chief executives of United and American airlines met yesterday with the US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to resolve their dispute over plans to finance the completion of O’Hare expansion without approval from the carriers.
Although no agreement has yet been reached, a statement issued by the airlines said they had a “constructive discussion”. The airlines reiterated their support for eventually completing the $3.4 billion second phase of O’Hare expansion, but “we were, unfortunately, unable to reach an agreement that would permit us to suspend our litigation seeking to stop the City from proceeding with financing (on the remaining work) without our legally required notice and approval,’’ the statement said.
An agreement was reached to “explore the opportunity” for federal funding of the runways, the airlines said.