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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NewsIn hopes of jumpstarting a business decimated by the pandemic, airlines and airports are offering preflight, on-the-spot testing for the coronavirus, with some test results back in 15 minutes. -
Desperate to try to fill planes again, airlines are rushing to implement on the spot, rapid-response pre-flight Covid-19 testing for passengers. Will it work, and what are the stumbling blocks?
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What considerations should you be thinking about as you plan holiday travel during the coronavirus pandemic?
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NewsThe agency screened more than one million travelers at airport security checkpoints Sunday, the most since the start of the pandemic. But the modest air travel increase may be short-lived. -
NewsUnited is the latest airline to report a huge third-quarter loss blamed on the coronavirus pandemic, but the CEO says he sees improvement ahead. -
NewsDelta is the first major airline to report 3rd quarter results and lost more than expected, as air travel demand remains weak due to the pandemic. -
NewsThey are working to contact those who had been in close proximity to the president, the first lady and others who traveled with him in recent days to get tested. -
Tens of thousands of flight attendants, airplane mechanics and agents are awaiting critical aid from Congress. NPR discusses how the airlines could regroup and what recovery will look like for them.
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"To our departing 13,000 family members: thank you for your dedication and we look forward to welcoming you back," United told employees, as CARES Act payroll aid was set to expire. -
NewsSteve Dickson took a Boeing 737 Max on a test flight Wednesday and says "It responded well," as regulators inch closer to ungrounding the troubled jetliner.
