New Master Plan Would Eliminate The Airport's East-West Runway

Pilots in Wheeling, Illinois are fighting a proposal to close runway 6/24 included in the updated master plan for Chicago Executive Airport (KWPK) north of O'Hare International.  

The airport is co-owned by the cities of Wheeling and Prospect Heights. Airport officials had initially proposed to extend a runway beyond existing airport borders, but that plan was strongly opposed by elected officials in Prospect Heights, Wheeling and Mount prospect, according to a report from the Daily Herald newspaper.

In a position paper posted on its website, the Chicago Executive Pilot's Association says the runway is a "lifesaver" when the winds are out of the southwest.

"Runway 6/24’s use, admittedly low, is of similar magnitude to that of runway 12/30. Runway 6/24 is a lifesaver for pilots when strong southwest winds are howling," the CEPA said in the paper.

"The Master Plan Report Phase II states: 'The runway configuration at CEA has been constructed to minimize the percentage of time that strong crosswinds make the use of the airport inadvisable.' CEPA learned Runway 6/24 is needed to meet FAA’s minimum standards for wind coverage for airport layout. Since so much of PWK’s traffic arrives from the northwest, north and northeast, it is much easier for ATC to simply assign everyone runway 16 landing to the south. This of course creates noise havoc over the Village of Wheeling.

"Air Traffic Controllers from nearby O’Hare International Airport have told CEPA that traffic departing runway 24 rather than 16 would certainly help the flow of local air traffic since it avoids the east-west airline flow at ORD. Another part of the usage problem of runway 6/24 is that air traffic controllers at KPWK don’t like using both runway 16/34 and 6/24 at the same time because of the crossing runway situation it sets up, a problem for pilots that was endorsed by the recently retired tower manager."

Members of the CEPA appeared before a recent airport board meeting to oppose the closure of Runway 6/24. Rhett Dennerline, a commercial pilot who advises aviation companies and has been flying from Chicago Executive for 32 years, said closing the runway "is not a safe thing to do. This actually may be relevant in the future. There may be an accident," he said.

But another aviation consultant said that closing the runway will actually improve safety. The FAA has said the intersection of 6/24 and the airports other two runways is a "Hot Spot" that could potentially lead to confusion and runway incursions.

Runway 6/24 is the shortest at KPWK at 3,677 feet and handles just 2 percent of the airport's daily operations. It also needs a comprehensive renovation in the next five years that would cost an estimated $1 million, according to airport officials.

FMI: Source report