FAA asks airlines to cut O'Hare flights

The Federal Aviation Administration is pushing airlines to trim summer schedules at Chicago O’Hare after planned flights rose beyond what the airport can reliably handle. (faa.gov) In a February 27 notice, the agency said published schedules for peak summer days topped 3,080 daily operations, up from a 2025 peak of 2,680. The Federal Aviation Administration said about 2,800 daily operations, or roughly 100 arrivals and departures an hour, is the airport’s manageable level. (nbcchicago.com) The summer scheduling season runs from March 29, 2026, through October 25, 2026, and the Federal Aviation Administration called airlines to a March 4 meeting before issuing a final order. O’Hare is already under the agency’s Level 2 schedule-review system, which relies on carriers to voluntarily adjust flights to avoid chronic delays. (faa.gov, faa.gov) The squeeze is tied to a fight between O’Hare’s two hub airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines, which have both added flights in a contest for passengers and gates. National Public Radio reported April 13 that federal regulators viewed the buildup as unusual enough to step in before summer congestion hit. (houstonpublicmedia.org) United told investors it was planning its biggest O’Hare summer yet, with 750 daily flights and new service on at least eight routes. American said it was adding 100 daily departures to more than 75 destinations for what it called its largest O’Hare spring schedule on record. (nbcchicago.com) That growth fight has been running through O’Hare’s gate map for nearly a year. In June 2025, the Chicago Department of Aviation awarded United five additional gates, leaving United with 95 and American with 59 under the city’s reallocation formula. (abc7chicago.com) American sued Chicago in May 2025, arguing the city moved too early under a 2018 lease agreement tied to a $6 billion terminal overhaul. The airline said the gate shift would make it harder to grow and weaken competition at O’Hare. (chicago.suntimes.com) A Cook County judge ruled for United and the city in September 2025, allowing the reallocation to move ahead. Travel Weekly reported the city’s formula is based on how much each airline used its gates in the prior year, a system that favored United after it rebuilt faster than American after the pandemic. (travelweekly.com) Airlines are already adjusting around the cap. Southwest Airlines said in March it will end O’Hare service on June 4 and keep serving Chicago through Midway, while a DePaul University transportation researcher told the Chicago Sun-Times that the prospect of Federal Aviation Administration cuts created added difficulty for smaller players at the airport. (chicago.suntimes.com) The Federal Aviation Administration’s immediate goal is simpler than the airline rivalry: keep O’Hare’s summer schedule closer to the airport’s demonstrated capacity, so peak-hour crowding does not turn into systemwide delays. (faa.gov, faa.gov)