Chicago bristles at federal proposal to cut flights at O'Hare airport

Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune on Mar 12, 2026

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CHICAGO — The city of Chicago is asking the federal government to reconsider plans to reduce flights at O’Hare International Airport, deeming those plans “regressive.”

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration said flight cuts were necessary at O’Hare, citing planned schedules this summer that “will exceed the airport’s capacity.”

The crackdown came as United and American, which are locked in a market share competition at the airport, have boosted daily flights there. The FAA said in February that the number of planned flights this summer would “stress the runway, terminal, and air traffic control systems” at O’Hare and convened a meeting to start addressing the issue last week.

The feds initially suggested operations at O’Hare could be capped at about 2,800 per day — the amount of flights the airport currently handles, according to the FAA.

But in a filing Wednesday, the city said that FAA officials said last week that cuts might need to bring the airport below the status quo, potentially to just 2,400 daily operations.

Chicago’s Department of Aviation, which runs the airport, says that’s unnecessary.

Any cap on operations lower than the airport’s “demonstrated, manageable capacity is unwarranted, and would lead to significant disruption to the National Airspace System,” the city said in its filing this week.

The city said the FAA had argued that the impact of construction at the airport — which is in the early stages of a massive modernization project — would be worse this summer than last. In its filing, the CDA disputes that argument.

Instead, the city is asking the FAA to support its preferred construction plan for the massive O’Hare project.

Initial plans called for two “satellite” concourses to be built first, followed by the centerpiece of the project, a new Global Terminal.

But airlines, which are footing much of the bill for the construction, pushed for Global Terminal construction to get moved up in line, hoping to ensure the centerpiece wouldn’t be threatened by increasing costs.

In bond documents last year, the city said it wanted to switch the schedule around again.

And this week, it made a case to the FAA that the feds should support that idea, arguing it “will lead to airfield, gate, and terminal efficiency.” And, the city said, the FAA “should explore further sources of federal funding” for the project.

“The result will be less impact on gate availability, lower costs, and a faster completion,” the city argued.

United declined to comment on the city’s filing, which was first reported by Crain’s Chicago, and American did not immediately comment. Neither did the FAA.

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