O'Hare, Midway limiting access to people with tickets, employees starting tonight
Access to O'Hare and Midway international airports will be limited to passengers with tickets and employees as of tonight, the Chicago Department of Aviation announced.
The decision is one of numerous precautions the city is taking amid the COVID-19 pandemic including ordering residents to quarantine for two weeks after returning from states with virus outbreaks.
“In order to ensure the safety and security of our valued passengers and employees, access to airport terminals is restricted to ticketed passengers, those assisting passengers, badged employees, and others with legitimate airport business,” a CDA statement said.
“Limited access will be allowed for those assisting passengers,” officials noted.
To enforce the new rule, Chicago police and CDA security will establish checkpoints at Midway and O'Hare's CTA stops at night. Authorities will require proof travelers are flying such as a boarding pass or ID badges for employees.
There are no plans for daytime checkpoints currently, although people entering the airports may be asked to show credentials.
Other airports across the U.S. have enacted similar policies, including John F. Kennedy and La Guardia international airports in New York, Hartsfield — Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, the CDA said.