Chicago O'Hare International has 4 tracked projects. See what is open, under construction, announced, or still only rumored — with a source beside every claim.
Reopened 50% larger at nearly 25,000 sq ft — 350+ seats, an expanded dining room, and what United says makes it the first US airline running two full-service bars in a business-class lounge. United's most recent finished lounge investment anywhere.
The first big piece of the $8.5B O'Hare expansion actually being built: a 580,000 sq ft satellite south of Concourse C, 19 gates convertible between 18 narrowbody and 9 widebody positions. Ground broke August 2025; foundations were ~35% done by June 2026. The City builds it; United and American fund much of it through their rates — and how the gates split between them hasn't been published.
The second satellite (~460,000 sq ft, roughly 24 gates by unofficial counts) is genuinely up in the air: Chicago's aviation chief says it proceeds only 'if enough funding remains after other work,' while one City proposal would pull it forward to 2029. Gate count and date are both soft.
The Studio Gang-designed replacement for Terminal 2 that would finally let United connect domestic and international under one roof. Announced in 2018 with a 2026 target; construction hasn't started, 2032 is the completion date on the books, and Chicago was still renegotiating sequencing with United and American as of late 2025, with scenarios running past 2033. The definitive case study in why this page distinguishes 'announced' from 'under construction.'
Satellite Concourse 1 (19 gates) is the clearest headline at ORD: The first big piece of the $8.5B O'Hare expansion actually being built: a 580,000 sq ft satellite south of Concourse C, 19 gates convertible between 18 narrowbody and 9 widebody positions. Ground broke August 2025; foundations were ~35% done by June 2026. The City builds it; United and American fund much of it through their rates — and how the gates split between them hasn't been published. Across the full list, 4 of 4 projects are led or jointly built by United; the rest belong to the airport authority and affect United's operation without being United capital projects.
The FAA tracker currently labels ORD scheduled for TFDM. The tower rollout is tracked separately from United's terminal and club construction.
4 projects are tracked at ORD: Polaris Lounge renovation, Satellite Concourse 1 (19 gates), Satellite Concourse 2, O'Hare Global Terminal. Each item is labeled by current status and by whether United or the airport authority is doing the work.
3 projects are under construction or announced, 1 is already open, and the remaining items are explicitly labeled if they are only rumored.
Satellite Concourse 1 (19 gates) carries a published target of late 2028. It remains labeled under construction until a source confirms that it opened.