U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Visits the Gary / Chicago International Airport

Resolute Public Affairs congratulates our client, the Gary / Chicago International Airport (GCIA) for hosting United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for a tour of the airport and a press event on August 30^th. Resolute coordinated the event along with the staff from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the office of U.S. Congressman Frank Mrvan (D-IN 1^st District). GCIA is Chicago’s 3^rd official airport, and plays a critical role in supporting Chicago’s aviation system and its operations – including a burgeoning cargo sector – that allows Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway International Airports to focus on commercial carrier service.

The press conference included remarks by GCIA Executive Director Dan Vicari, Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Michael Smith, U.S. Congressman Frank Mrvan and Secretary Pete Buttigieg, touting the substantial infrastructure and capital improvements to upgrade GCIA’s facilities, as well as improvements to the airport’s cargo service operations, which support manufacturing and national supply chains, with cargo operations playing an increasingly critical role in the local and national economy.

The tour allowed the airport to showcase these investments to Secretary Buttigieg and allow him to hear first-hand how the past decade of investments have fueled these investments, which include an extension of the main runway, which is now the 2^nd longest in the Chicago area (after O’Hare International Airport) and able to accommodate planes up to an including a 777 as well as the construction of state-of-the-art U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that allows visitors to travel to the airport without needing to clear customs elsewhere.