Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Author: Fran Spielman

Last month, 40,000 air travelers coughed up a daily fee of $6.95 for the right to access the Internet at O'Hare and Midway airports.

But what good is wireless Internet access if passengers have no place to recharge their dying BlackBerries, PDAs and laptop computers?

Newly appointed Chicago Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez has been asking herself that question after strolling through passenger terminals, only to find desperate travelers sitting on the floor hogging electrical outlets reserved for maintenance equipment.

"People are recharging in the various sockets available through the janitorial services. . . . We have maintenance outlets throughout the airport used mainly for vacuuming and cleaning. But those are the only outlets available. So we have travelers sitting on the floor, plugging in and recharging," Fernandez said.

Outlet hoarding won't be necessary much longer, if the new commissioner has her way.

She's planning to open 25 "Re-charge and Relax" stations -- 21 at O'Hare and four at Midway. Eight stations at O'Hare and two at Midway are to open by September. The rest will debut in January.

Scandal slowed Wi-Fi pact

Currently, O'Hare has only one recharging station -- at United Airlines Gate B-6 in Terminal 1.

The stations are designed like a lunch counter with five bar stools, with space reserved for passengers with disabilities. Each stool has a duplex AC outlet to recharge two electronic devices simultaneously.

Recharging will be free.

"There's limited space available. We have more concessions that are gonna be going in. Those are revenue-generating. So we have to work with the airlines to identify space where we can put these re-charging stations," Fernandez said.

Last year, a politically connected contractor won the right to install scores of "access points" or transmitters at an estimated cost of $10 million in exchange for the right to charge air travelers an Internet access fee of $6.95 a day.

The fee is paid only by those without their own wireless Internet service providers. Travelers who already pay a monthly fee to a wireless provider can make any one of 10 connections without paying an additional fee by going through a "neutral host system" operated by Chicago-based Concourse Development LLC.

The Wi-Fi contract initially had trouble getting cleared for takeoff because two key players got caught up in the City Hall hiring scandal.

Former Aviation Commissioner John Roberson is cooperating with the federal investigation and played a key role in the selection process.

Michael Broderick served as chief lobbyist for Concourse Development. When Broderick worked for the city, he allegedly gave a personnel director a list of names of people to be hired in city jobs and their political sponsors, according to court records.

The city is guaranteed a minimum of $1 million a year from the airport Wi-Fi deal.