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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A dam that failed in Michigan in May isn't the only one at risk — thousands of aging dams nationwide are not just in poor shape but weren't built for today's heavier rains caused by climate change.
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The agency says older 737 Classic and Next Generation planes that have been in storage because of the COVID-19 pandemic might have developed engine valve problems that could lead to engine failure. -
Airlines report huge losses during the pandemic despite a brief summer uptick in travel. The federal payroll aid is about to run out, and tens of thousands of airline employees may lose their jobs.
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The FAA says an airworthiness directive for Boeing's 737 Max is near, but it still may be months before the troubled plane flies passengers again. -
A sharp drop in air travel due to the pandemic cuts into Delta's bottom line, but the airline says it will continue to block out middle seats to create more distance between passengers. -
With bookings down and cancellations on the rise amid a surge in new COVID-19 cases, United's furloughs will be a "gut punch" to employees when federal coronavirus relief funding runs out. -
Boeing failed to tell regulators about significant changes it made to an automated flight control system when developing the 737 Max, according to the Transportation Department's inspector general.
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Some airlines say they are filling planes to capacity instead of keeping empty seats to ensure social distancing. They are getting help from the TSA to reassure travelers that it is safe to fly again.
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More than a year after the plane's grounding because of two deadly crashes, the FAA began a series of certification flights Monday, a big step toward allowing the 737 Max to fly passengers again. -
At a hearing, they accused the agency of "stonewalling" congressional investigators and keeping them "in the dark," in their effort to examine what went wrong in certifying Boeing's troubled airplane.
