November 27, 2006

Rockford and Cargo

— It takes about four hours for Polar Air Cargo to land, taxi and unload a plane at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Officials at Chicago/Rockford International Airport claim it would take half that time here. They’re recruiting one of O’Hare’s biggest cargo carriers, hoping to get it to bring its 23 flights a week and 150 jobs here.

“We’re trying to show them, not just Polar Air but other people, it’s a more convenient place,” said Derek Martin, deputy director of the Rockford airport. He said the company is considering Rockford’s offer, but he doesn’t know when it will respond. Polar Air Cargo would be Rockford’s second-biggest operator — UPS flies 30 planes a week.

Polar Air Cargo officials didn’t return calls seeking comment. The Polar Web site said the company connects major cargo markets in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Far East through frequent Boeing 747 freighter service. Polar and its sister company, Atlas Air Inc., are wholly owned subsidiaries of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rockford blogger

To my knowledge, the airport authority here has been speaker to Polar for close to a year and a half. They appear to be taking a long term approach to their talks which I think is good. ORD is only going to get more crowded and Polar could be an excellent fit at RFD. Having the 2nd largest UPS air hub here plus activity from Bax Global and DHL can not hurt either.

Anonymous said...

I think cargo operations would benefit the airport. Aside from the noise factor from night landings I can't think of any other drawbacks that couldn't be addressed

Anonymous said...

W.T. we have spoken to or mentioned the possibility of a cargo carrier at ORH. It is not feasible because of ACCESS. Please be assured that this has already been visited. I myself spoke to Euro American, a cargo carrier located AT ORH itself! They will not fly out of our 7,000 ft runway b/c it is too short! No doubt cargo would benefit ORH. But they can use other airports more cheaply.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Tom for the info.

Anonymous said...

About the runway being to short, has there been any talk of lengthening it? I know its not TOO short. I've looked around and seen 757's and 767's at Santa Ana/John Wayne airport, whose runway is 5700 feet. I also remember seeing on flightaware an Evergreen 747 going to Trenton, NJ, whose runway is 6006 feet. The runway can be considered, but what kills them is the access, which will stand in the way of cargo at ORH.

Dave from Worcester