Feds Cut Hundreds Of O'Hare Flights

The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered Chicago O’Hare to cut its peak summer schedule to 2,708 daily flights, down from more than 3,080 that airlines had planned. (faa.gov) The FAA announced the limits on April 16 and said they will run from May 17 through Oct. 24, 2026. The agency said O’Hare handled fewer than 60% of arrivals and departures on time last summer. (faa.gov) Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said airlines had overscheduled the airport for summer 2026. The FAA said planned peak-day flying was up 14.9% from summer 2025, or about 400 more operations than last year. (faa.gov) A scheduling reduction is the federal government’s way of forcing carriers to match their timetables to what an airport can actually handle. The FAA said it reached this order after meetings with airlines and O’Hare representatives on March 3 and March 4, with written submissions due March 11. (faa.gov) The squeeze comes just as O’Hare was ranked the world’s busiest airport for aircraft movements in 2025. Airports Council International said that ranking was based on total takeoffs and landings, not passenger traffic. (aci.aero) The FAA said the problem at O’Hare is not only airline scheduling. The agency also pointed to constrained gate capacity, taxiway closures tied to construction, and the need to add and train more air traffic controllers. (faa.gov) The cuts land in the middle of a fight between United Airlines and American Airlines over growth at O’Hare. Aviation Week reported the final cap amounts to a 12% reduction from the summer schedules airlines had proposed. (aviationweek.com) Southwest Airlines is already pulling out of O’Hare, with its last flights scheduled for June 4. Southwest said it would keep serving Chicago through Midway, while the Chicago Sun-Times reported the FAA’s push for flight cuts was one factor hanging over O’Hare this summer. (chicago.suntimes.com) For travelers, the tradeoff is straightforward: fewer flights on the schedule in exchange for fewer hours lost to delays. The FAA said the order is meant to keep summer trips from collapsing under a timetable the airport cannot support. (faa.gov)