NEWS & NOTES
Airport Watch July Meeting Minutes
ORD Airport Watch Meeting Minutes July 7, 2020
Board Present: Pete Wagner, Bill Gaston, Dan Marinellie, Chuck Belanger, Eva
Kozlowski, Kelly Roller, Dan McInerney
Board Absent: None
Note: The Executive Board and General meetings were held via Zoom.
Meeting was called to order by Peter Wagner at 7:00pm.
Agenda:
1) Motion to approve new vest purchase for $369.07, motion approved.
2) Treasurer's report Kelly Roller current bank balance is $2677.83 with an additional $430.00 to be deposited. Bill Gaston indicated that he will send Kelly more dues and vest payments shortly.
3) Motion to approve June Minutes by Dan McInerney, second by Chuck Belanger, minutes were approved.
4) Spotting Site Reports:
ORD Hill - Chuck reports more activity on the hill. The upper grassy area is being used for equipment storage and is strictly off limits to anyone. Be awarenof equipment movements and be courteous and respectful.
Gate Gourmet / TNP Lot Many spotters are now using the TNP lot. Be respectful, move to the fence, take your pictures then back off a bit.
NE Cargo no issues. Again, do not loiter next to the fences.
Dave and Buster's no issues.
Delta Cargo is still available to us, just be respectful, park away from the end of the fence area, and try not to loiter too long.
5) The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday August 4, 2020 at the Bensenville Police Department. Please note the new day (Wednesday instead of Tuesday).
6) Meeting motion to adjourn by Peter Wagner at 7:18 pm; second by Chuck Belanger.
Respectfully submitted by Bill Gaston
August Virtual meeting
Members,
We ask that anyone whom is interested please join us in our August Airport Watch meeting Zoom video conference on Tuesday, August 4 at 7:00pm. With the pandemic situation still ongoing we decided to host another Zoom video conference in place of our August meeting. We are actively monitoring the current pandemic situation, and are hoping to return to in-person meetings beginning in September.
Zoom is completely free to use, and will work on any computer or smart phone by downloading the program from the website below, or searching for it in your phone's app store. https://zoom.us/download.
Once you have Zoom installed, you can simply click the meeting link listed below, or type in the meeting ID number in the Zoom program, and entering in the password if prompted. The password is ORDWatch.
Topic: August 2020 ORD Airport Watch Meeting
Time: Aug 4, 2020 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73389860494?pwd=V3VCOWxyYXNlMytYNGt3M3JpY2lWQT09
Meeting ID: 733 8986 0494
Passcode: ORDWatch
We wish you and your families continued good health, and hope to see you on the video conference!
Sincerely,ORD Airport Watch Board
Airport Watch June Meeting Minutes
ORD Airport Watch Meeting Minutes - June 2, 2020
Board Present: Pete Wagner, Bill Gaston, Dan Marinellie, Chuck Belanger, Eva Kozlowski, Kelly Roller, Dan McInerney
Board Absent: None
Note: The Executive Board and General meetings were held via Zoom.
Meeting was called to order by Peter Wagner at 7:00pm.
Agenda:
1) Motion to approve May Minutes by Bill Gaston, second by Chuck Belanger, minutes were approved.
2) Treasurer's report – Kelly Roller – current bank balance is $2722.17. Bill Gaston indicated that he received 3 new badges with $20 payments, and 1 vest payment for $30 ($10 extra from the member for “all we do”).
3) Peter Wagner reiterated the general safety rules under the State of Illinois guidelines for safety and social distancing.
4) Spotting Site Reports:
ORD Hill - Chuck reports major activity on the hill. The upper grassy area is being used for equipment storage. Now that the highway interchange issues have been resolved, there may be more activity in the Hill area. Be aware of equipment movements and be courteous and respectful.
Gate Gourmet / TNP Lot – Many spotters are now using the TNP lot. Be respectful, move to the fence, take your pictures then back off a bit.
NE Cargo – no issues. Again, do not loiter next to the fences.
Dave and Buster's – no issues.
York Road and Wentworth Tire in particular – that is a busy area, just be careful of traffic.
5) Chuck Belanger reported that the Avenger fly-in has been moved to Terre Haute, IN in late June. Check www.hoosieraviation.com for details.
6) For posting pics on Instagram, use the hashtag #ORDAIRPORTWATCH.
7) The next meeting is scheduled for July 7, 2020. At this time, we do not know the status of the Bensenville Police Department facilities. If not available, we will have another Zoom meeting.
8) Meeting motion to adjourn by Dan McInerney at 7:17 pm; second by Kelly Roller.
Respectfully submitted by Bill Gaston
July Virtual Meeting
Members,
We hope you are all continuing to do well during this pandemic.
We ask that anyone whom is interested please join us in our July Airport Watch meeting Zoom video conference on Tuesday, July 7 at 7:00pm. With the pandemic situation still ongoing we decided to host another Zoom video conference in place of our July meeting.
Zoom is completely free to use, and will work on any computer or smart phone by downloading the program from the website below, or searching for it in your phone's app store.https://zoom.us/download
Once you have Zoom installed, you can simply click the meeting link listed below, or type in the meeting ID number in the Zoom program, and entering in the password if prompted.
Topic: July 2020 ORD Airport Watch MeetingTime: Jul 7, 2020 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71476748081?pwd=Kzg4KzBIU3BDblgya3E0WitzbG5JZz09
Meeting ID: 714 7674 8081
Password: ORDWatch
We wish you and your families continued good health, and hope to see you on the video conference!
Sincerely,ORD Airport Watch Board
May Airport Watch Virtual Meeting
To all members - please check the Events section for an update on the May meeting. We will be holding a virtual meeting using Zoom. Please plan on joining us!
Airport Watch Coronavirus Update
To all members: While we understand how important spotting is to our members, safety is ORD Airport Watch’s top priority. Therefore, in line with the current state-wide Shelter-in-Place order, it is our recommendation that all members adhere to the order and refrain from spotting until the order is lifted. We wish you good health and hope to see you spotting at the airports once it is safe to do so. ORD Airport Watch Board
Meetings Update
To our members: As a precaution, the Bensenville Police Department has closed their meeting room due to the coronavirus outbreak. ORD Airport Watch monthly meetings will be suspended until further notice. Please take measures to keep yourselves safe and healthy while spotting and in all your daily activities.
2020 ORD Airport Watch Meeting Schedule
All meetings are held at the Bensenville Police Station, 345 E. Green St., Bensenville, IL 60106
Board meetings start at 6:30 pm, general meetings start at 7:00 pm.
Tuesday, January 7
Tuesday, February 4
Tuesday, March 3
Tuesday, April 7
Tuesday, May 5
Tuesday, June 2
Tuesday, July 7
Tuesday, August 4
Tuesday, September 1
Tuesday, October 6
Tuesday, November 3
Tuesday, December 1
March 2020 El Al begins ORD Service
El Al begins service to ORD from Tel Aviv on March 22, 2020. The flight is scheduled to arrive at ORD at 4:30pm, and departs back to Tel Aviv at 6:50pm. It's scheduled to be here 4 days a week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
The first week of service will be 787-8s all 4 days. Beginning the following week, March 29, 2020, the flight will be a 787-9 3 days a week, and the 4th day will be a 787-8, and remain that way permanently.
The Thursday flight will be a 787-8, the other 3 remaining days will be with the 787-9.
Air New Zealand increases ORD service
On December 9, 2019, Air New Zealand increases ORD service to 5 times a week for the winter travel season. The flight will arrive at 4:05pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Proud of our OAW members featured on WGN Channel 9
Proud of our members featured on WGN Channel 9 this morning who talked about our passion and mission. It was fun hanging out with WGN’s Sarah Jindra as well as OAW member AND WGNs Ben Bradley
February 2020 Meeting Notes
ORD Airport Watch Meeting Minutes
ORD Airport Watch Meeting Minutes - February 4, 2020
Board Present: Pete Wagner, Bill Gaston, Dan Marinellie, Chuck Belanger, Eva Kozlowski, Kelly Roller, Dan McInerney
Board Absent: None
Meeting was called to order by Dan McInerney at 7:00pm.
Agenda:
Approval of January 2020 minutes – moved by Dan Marinellie, seconded by Chuck Belanger
Treasurer's report – current bank balance is $2606.24.
The next on-field tour will be in May, pending approval by airport authorities.
Spotting Site Reports:
a. ORD Hill - Chuck reports no major changes since the last meeting. Be cautious, the roads are in poor condition due to the weather. There was an incident where a member (with badge and vest) was asked to leave by a private security firm. We have notified CPD of the incident. The Life Source garage is accessible, spotting is ok from the top floor. Watch traffic for baseball/softball games.
b. PWK – no updates on closing of runway 24.
c. General – the NBA All-Star game is this coming weekend. Expect to see more private traffic, especially at MDW and possibley PWK.
d. MDW – Midway likes our pics posted to media sites. Be sure to tag them. Also, the 55th St. garage is good for spotting.
Chuck Belanger will be speaking at the EAA Illinois Valley Airport group in March or April. He has been asked to give a presentation on our group.
We will try to have a cookout around the airport this summer. We want to attract younger spotters that might not otherwise be able to join the group.
Illinois Valley Airport (Peru, IL) is looking for volunteers to assist with their Avenger repair activities. Please contact Brad Deckert through his Facebook contact.
General Comments – Our web site needs some tweaking. John Meneely noted the the ski plane fly-in in Oshkosh is scheduled for Feb.22, weather permitting.
The next meeting will be March 3, 2020, 7:00 pm at the Bensenville Police Station.
Meeting motion to adjourn by Bill Gaston at 7:28 pm; second by Chuck Belanger
Respectfully submitted by Bill Gaston