FAA to Order Major Schedule Cuts at Chicago O’Hare as United–American Clash Escalates

Lead

The Federal Aviation Administration will force schedule reductions at Chicago O’Hare for Summer 2026 after airlines published peak operations that the agency says the airport cannot sustain. The action stems from an intensifying competition between United Airlines and American Airlines: United is expanding to its largest-ever Chicago schedule while American has rebuilt to roughly pre-pandemic levels and is defending gates. The FAA’s operating-limits order, to be issued under 49 U.S.C. § 41722, targets the March 29–October 25, 2026 season and aims to reduce peak daily operations to a manageable level.

Key Takeaways

• Airlines have published about 3,080 peak daily takeoffs and landings for O’Hare in summer 2026, up from 2,680 last summer.
• The FAA considers roughly 2,800 peak operations manageable and is preparing cuts that imply about 280 operations removed per peak day (140 takeoffs, 140 landings), or ~9% of the published schedule.
• United plans its largest-ever Chicago schedule: 222 destinations (175 domestic, 47 international) with up to 750 daily flights—approximately 25% more than 2019 levels.
• American aims to serve roughly 183 destinations with just over 500 daily flights, near pre-pandemic capacity after gate losses and recent purchases from Spirit Airlines.
• The FAA’s scheduling reduction process begins with public sessions March 3–4, 2026, with confidential carrier meetings and a final Federal Register order publishing carrier-specific limits.
• The regulatory action applies to U.S. carriers only and will not directly limit foreign-carrier schedules at O’Hare.

Background

Chicago O’Hare is one of the nation’s busiest hubs and has long been a focal point for carrier competition. Historically, scheduling at O’Hare has been governed by slot-like controls, coordination with air traffic control capacity, and negotiated gate assignments between carriers and the airport authority. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schedules and gate uses; some carriers did not rebuild service immediately, which led to reassignment or loss of gate rights under lease terms.

In the past two years the market has become more contested. United has pursued aggressive capacity growth at O’Hare, while American has prioritized protecting its existing footprint, including buying gates from Spirit Airlines and pushing to maintain its schedule. Those competing strategies have increased peak-period congestion, elevating concerns about on-time performance, delays, and airspace efficiency during the summer travel season.

Main Event

The FAA announced it will convene a scheduling reduction process and then issue an operating limits order covering March 29–October 25, 2026, using its authority under 49 U.S.C. § 41722 (delay reduction). The agency will present a 30-minute-period demand profile for the airport spanning 6 a.m. to midnight, highlight the most congested windows, and propose reduction targets by period. The public meetings are set to open March 3 with formal schedule-reduction discussions beginning March 4; all scheduled carriers and the Chicago Department of Aviation may participate.

Following the public sessions, the FAA will meet carriers individually in confidential sessions to solicit reduction offers and schedule modifications. After reviewing carrier proposals, the FAA will publish a final order in the Federal Register that assigns carrier-specific limits for peak periods. The process is intended to be surgical: reductions are allocated by 30-minute windows, making high-frequency short-haul regional flights likelier targets for removal.

Airline-published schedules show a sharp expansion in total operations: about 3,080 peak daily operations for summer 2026 versus 2,680 last summer. The FAA has indicated that 2,800 operations are manageable; that gap implies removal of about 280 operations per peak day. United’s growth accounts for the largest share of the added capacity, which means United could face proportionally larger cuts even though American expects some reductions as well.

Analysis & Implications

The FAA’s intervention addresses both safety and system performance. Peak-period congestion at O’Hare drives airborne holding, taxi delays, and knock-on impacts across the national airspace. By limiting operations in the busiest 30-minute windows, the FAA seeks to reduce delay propagation and improve predictability for passengers and cargo. That operational goal, however, has distributional consequences for carriers—some flights and frequencies will be removed, and carriers that added the most capacity are likely to bear the largest numeric cuts.

For United, the planned expansion to 750 daily flights and 222 destinations—about 25% above 2019 levels—represents an aggressive growth posture that increases exposure to cuts. For American, which reports just over 500 daily flights and roughly pre-pandemic seat counts, preserving gate positions has been a strategic priority; buying additional gates from Spirit is part of that protection strategy. If reductions fall proportionally, United’s larger absolute growth could translate into deeper numeric reductions, altering competitive dynamics at the hub.

Fare dynamics will matter. Additional departing seats from Chicago generally put downward pressure on fares, which erodes unit revenue for both carriers and can make high-frequency city-pair markets less profitable. The FAA’s cuts will remove some capacity, which could stabilize fares, but the distribution of those cuts—route-by-route and window-by-window—will ultimately determine the revenue picture for each carrier and for consumers.

Comparison & Data

The table shows the scale of United’s expansion compared with American and how total published operations compare to the FAA’s target. Because the FAA evaluates 30-minute windows, actual carrier reductions will vary by time of day; peak-hour hubs commonly shed frequencies that are high-volume but low-yield—often regional-jet short-haul flights.

Reactions & Quotes

American praised the FAA’s proactive action to protect operational integrity and improve the customer experience at O’Hare this summer.

American Airlines (statement)

The FAA has said the current published schedule cannot be sustained and has initiated a scheduling reduction process under its delay-reduction authority.

Federal Aviation Administration (notice of scheduling process)

Industry observers note that because reductions are assessed by 30-minute windows, high-frequency regional flights and recent low-yield additions are most vulnerable to removal.

Independent aviation analysis (industry commentary)

Unconfirmed

• The exact list of flights or city pairs that will be cut has not been released; carrier-specific limits will appear in the FAA’s Federal Register order.
• The final allocation method (pro-rata, historical precedence, or market-value adjustments) for distributing cuts among carriers is not yet public.
• The magnitude and duration of fare impacts resulting from the cuts remain speculative until the final schedule and market responses are known.

Bottom Line

The FAA’s forthcoming operating-limits order is a direct response to rapid capacity growth at O’Hare—principally driven by United’s expansion and American’s efforts to defend and restore its footprint. The agency aims to reduce peak-period operations by roughly 9% of the currently published schedule to improve on-time performance and airspace flow during the summer 2026 season.

Carriers will face difficult choices: where to reduce frequencies, which time windows to prioritize, and how to manage revenue and network connectivity implications. The final Federal Register order and the carrier-specific limitations it contains will determine how competition and fares evolve at O’Hare in the months ahead; market stakeholders should watch the March 3–4 meetings and the FAA’s published limits closely.

Sources

• View From The Wing — independent aviation blog reporting on FAA process and carrier schedules.
• 49 U.S.C. § 41722 (U.S. Code) — statutory authority for FAA delay-reduction actions (official/legal).