The Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee will disrupt air traffic in the region. Approximately 50,000 people are expected to attend the four-day event in southwestern Wisconsin, and—according to NBAA Air Traffic Services—Chicago Center has requested assistance in advising aircraft operators of restrictions for departures from Chicago O’Hare International (KORD) and Chicago Midway International (KMDW) airports.
From 17:30 UTC on tomorrow through 04:00 on July 17; 18:00 UTC on July 17 through 04:00 UTC on July 18; and 18:00 UTC July 18 through 04:00 on July 19, all northbound departing aircraft are encouraged to use coded departure routes eastbound or westbound to avoid delays due to event activities near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (KMKE) in Milwaukee.
Due to the anticipated increase in departure demand generated by the event at Waukesha County Airport (KUES) and KMKE, Chicago Center has mandated that all aircraft departing from those airports file specific flight routes on July 18 and 19. For KUES, eastbound departures will use GAYLE..SLLAP then the user-preferred trajectory (UPT), while southbound departures will use ACCRA5 then UPT. Other directions can file normal routing.
At KMKE, southbound departures will take UECKR6, then UPT, with normal routing for all other directions.
These times may change due to alterations in the convention schedule, so operators in the region should check for the latest notams.