ORD & MDW tower along with Chicago approach and Chicago ARTCC are coming together to bring you the first every Chicago Aviation Symposium.  Through a program called "Bridge the Gap" NATCA is trying to connect pilots and air traffic controllers to increase knowledge of the system, answer questions, enhance safety and break down barriers between pilots and controllers.

Air traffic controllers from Chicago O’Hare Tower (ORD), Chicago Midway Tower (MDW), Chicago TRACON (C90), and Chicago ARTCC (ZAU) will lead separate breakout sessions to detail operations at their facilities and field questions from pilots of all categories and ratings.

Topics that the TRACON will address include but are not limited to:

Part 91 Operational Interests: basic departure & arrival operations, IFR pickups when airborne, PIREPS, icing, thunderstorms, bases and tops reporting,  flight following, performance characteristics, east flow ops vs. west flow ops, general approach control procedures and techniques, 22L operations at MDW (VFRs, traffic flow) etc.

Part 121 & 135 Operational Interests: SID/STAR via altitudes and paths and speeds, simuls vs visuals, PIREPS, icing, thunderstorms, bases and tops reporting, visual approaches, runway selection and optimization, east flow ops, west flow ops, speed control, general approach control procedures and techniques (expect a short approach vs trip simuls), 30 degree intercept for simul VAs, 22L operations at MDW (VFRs, traffic flow) etc.

Aviation Symposium 2015 (PDF Flyer)