CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — O'Hare International Airport is among the busiest airports in the world — usually.
On Monday morning, it had a handful of passengers as the airline industry continues to be battered by the economic fallout from COVID-19.
Traffic into the airport is non-existent. Empty airport parking lot shuttle buses continue to make the rounds in the event they have to pick someone up. The parking garage is wide open. Empty airplanes are parked in the middle of the airfield. Most of the people inside the terminal are Chicago Police or airport employees.
Exchange student Mark Roethermel was among the handful of passengers waiting for a flight.
COVID-19 forced an early end to his semester abroad at the University of Illinois. He said he was disappointed because he originally planned to travel the United States at the end of the academic year.
Now, he’s heading back to Germany, where he will have to enter into a mandatory two-week quarantine as soon as he gets home.
Roethermel says he's taking precautions, even if social distancing is easy at an empty airport.
"As soon as it gets more crowded I will put my face mask on," Roethermel said. He said he's also washing his hands and avoiding touching his face.
The TSA says it screened 128,875 passengers on Sunday April 26. Last year at this time they screened 2.5 million.