Narrative:

Several items are a cause of concern. In our 'safety' first culture I sure felt like safety was second to capacity. First departing runway 22L with an 11 knot tailwind because the TRACON needed to land two runways and in the configuration at the time 22L was the only departure runway. Second runway 28 was closed for snow removal. Someone allowed the runway 28 final to come in without the runway being open. This caused the first 4 aircraft to be sent around. During the go arounds; one flm is standing behind you telling you to do one thing and the other is at the watch desk being told by the TRACON to do another thing. This is very confusing for the person talking to the aircraft. Now the TRACON controllers have to take back 4 more aircraft because someone allowed aircraft to be vectored to a closed runway. This increases the chance for a loss of separation to both tower and TRACON controllers. Third when they did open runway 28; they didn't go back to landing 27L and 28 so we could depart runways 32L/right (headwind) we stayed on IFR west flow and allowed our departures to depart with the 11 kt tailwind off of 22L. We stayed on IFR west flow because the TRACON had to land 3 runways. Fourth; while the go arounds were happening; it was deemed necessary to change controllers so training could be accomplished. This could have waited a few more minutes to allow one controller to handle the complexity of the departures and go arounds work everything out then give a good relief briefing. The brief suffered because the timing of the changeover. Lastly; when someone in the tower is quoted saying 'they are taking 22L there is no problem'; runway 22L; one of O'hare's shortest runway; tailwind; snow; ice; birds; wet pavement. No it is not a problem! Here we have a blatant example of compacity over safety! Recommendation; allow our flm's to call the safest configuration based on airport conditions and not be bullied by traffic management; the TRACON; or the command center. Establish clear guidelines for tailwinds.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ORD controller voiced concern regarding the runway usage policy/procedures as they relate to tail wind components; weather factors; TRACON traffic flows and traffic management/company influences.

Narrative: Several items are a cause of concern. In our 'safety' first culture I sure felt like safety was second to capacity. First departing Runway 22L with an 11 knot tailwind because the TRACON needed to land TWO runways and in the configuration at the time 22L was the ONLY departure runway. Second Runway 28 was closed for snow removal. Someone allowed the Runway 28 final to come in without the runway being open. This caused the first 4 aircraft to be sent around. During the go arounds; one FLM is standing behind you telling you to do one thing and the other is at the watch desk being told by the TRACON to do another thing. This is very confusing for the person talking to the aircraft. Now the TRACON controllers have to take back 4 more aircraft because someone allowed aircraft to be vectored to a closed runway. This increases the chance for a loss of separation to both Tower and TRACON controllers. Third when they did open Runway 28; they didn't go back to landing 27L and 28 so we could depart Runways 32L/R (headwind) we stayed on IFR West Flow and allowed our departures to depart with the 11 kt tailwind off of 22L. We stayed on IFR West flow because the TRACON had to land 3 runways. Fourth; while the go arounds were happening; it was deemed necessary to change controllers so training could be accomplished. This could have waited a few more minutes to allow one controller to handle the complexity of the departures and go arounds work everything out then give a good relief briefing. The brief suffered because the timing of the changeover. Lastly; when someone in the tower is quoted saying 'they are taking 22L there is no problem'; Runway 22L; one of O'Hare's shortest runway; tailwind; snow; ice; birds; wet pavement. No it is not a problem! Here we have a blatant example of COMPACITY over safety! Recommendation; allow our FLM's to call the safest configuration based on airport conditions and not be bullied by traffic management; the TRACON; or the command center. Establish clear guidelines for tailwinds.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.