Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says 5,000 jobs will be created out of a newly-minted $1.3 billion deal to build the final runway in the overhaul of O'Hare International Airport.
The agreement between the city, United Airlines and American Airlines was announced on Saturday.
Construction is set to begin in May with the new runway opening in 2020. Emanuel touted the deal Sunday.
For years, Chicago has been untangling O'Hare's six crisscrossing runways and rearranging them in a safer and more efficient layout.
The work is aimed at unclogging one of the worst aviation bottlenecks in the country.
Emanuel has said he aggressively went after the deal and his goal is to make O'Hare the nation's best airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration is contributing $345 million to the project.
