David Schaper
David Schaper is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, based in Chicago, primarily covering transportation and infrastructure, as well as breaking news in Chicago and the Midwest.
In this role, Schaper covers aviation and airlines, railroads, the trucking and freight industries, highways, transit, and new means of mobility such as ride hailing apps, car sharing, and shared bikes and scooters. In addition, he reports on important transportation safety issues, as well as the politics behind transportation and infrastructure policy and funding.
Since joining NPR in 2002, Schaper has covered some of the nation's most important news stories, including the Sandy Hook school shooting and other mass shootings, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, California wildfires, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and numerous other disasters. David has also reported on presidential campaigns in Iowa and elsewhere, on key races for U.S. Senate and House, governorships, and other offices in the Midwest, and he reported on the rise of Barack Obama from relative political obscurity in Chicago to the White House. Along the way, he's brought listeners and online readers many colorful stories about Chicago politics, including the corruption trials and convictions of two former Illinois governors.
But none of that compares to the joy of covering his beloved Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in 2016, and three Stanley Cup Championships for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
Prior to joining NPR, Schaper spent almost a decade working as an award-winning reporter and editor for WBEZ/Chicago Public Media, NPR's Member station in Chicago. For three years he covered education issues, reporting in-depth on the problems and progress — financial, educational and otherwise — in Chicago's public schools.
Schaper also served as WBEZ's Assistant Managing Editor of News, managing the station's daily news coverage and editing the reporting staff while often still reporting himself. He later served as WBEZ's political editor and reporter; he was a frequent fill-in news anchor and talk show host. Additionally, he has been an occasional contributor guest panelist on Chicago public television station WTTW's news program, Chicago Tonight.
Schaper began his journalism career in La Crosse, Wisconsin, as a reporter and anchor at Wisconsin Public Radio's WLSU-FM. He has since worked in both public and commercial radio news, including stints at WBBM NewsRadio in Chicago, WXRT-FM in Chicago, WDCB-FM in suburban Chicago, WUIS-FM in Springfield, Illinois, WMAY-AM in Springfield, Illinois, and WIZM-AM and FM in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Schaper earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications and history at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a master's degree in public affairs reporting at the University of Illinois-Springfield. He lives in Chicago with his wife, a Chicago Public School teacher, and they have three adult children.
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An Amtrak train derailed in Missouri on Monday, killing four people and injuring dozens. The railroad crossing outside the town of Mendon is a dangerous one, according to local residents.
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The families of those killed in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes will be in federal court in Texas, arguing that the company's deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors should be rescinded.
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A federal judge in Florida has struck down the Biden administration's mask mandate on planes, trains, buses and other public transportation — saying the CDC exceeded its statutory authority.
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Airline CEOs say it's time to end the requirement that everyone wear masks in airports and on planes. The Biden administration has extended the mask mandate until mid-April.
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Springtime air travel is stronger than at any time since the pandemic began. But airlines still worry that soaring fuel prices and a war in Ukraine could cut into travel plans and revenues.
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As gas prices rise, politicians call for gas taxes to be suspended. Transportation experts say such moves won't provide much relief and would cut into needed spending on roads, bridges and transit.
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Russian airlines are primarily only flying domestically. More than half of Russian planes are leased from companies in the West, which now must terminate those contacts and repossess the planes.
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The FAA's order prohibiting Russian flights from entering U.S. airspace is now in effect. Russia is expected to respond in kind, forcing airlines to take longer routes around the massive country -
Commercial airline pilots are overwhelmingly white and male. Amid a need for pilots, the industry is stepping up efforts to recruit more women and people of color to become pilots.
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Airlines are in need of pilots. The situation was exacerbated during the pandemic when scores of veteran pilots took buyouts and early retirement packages.
