Travelers hurry about in Terminal 3 of Chicago's O'Hare international airport

Although it said it would seek bids for the lucrative janitorial work at O’Hare Airport, the City of Chicago awarded a no-bid contract extension to a company with a history of controversy, according to an article on the WBEZ website.

United Maintenance Company Inc. was awarded a five-year contract worth an estimated $99.4 million to clean O’Hare terminals in 2012.

When the deal expired in December of 2017, city officials gave United Maintenance a six-month extension. The city said in January that it would seek bids for a new O’Hare deal before that extension ran out. Instead, in June, city officials gave a second extension to United Maintenance, according to public records.

A spokeswoman for the city’s aviation department said the city still planned to seek bids for the O’Hare janitorial work, but extended the deal with the current contractor until mid-December to ensure “continuity of service.”

She said the city was delayed in seeking new bids because it first had to negotiate new lease deals for gates at O’Hare with the airlines — a process that just finished in May 2018

For details of this controversial company, click here.