By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Friday said it will extend 10% flight cuts for another year at Chicago O’Hare to prevent delays and address concerns about congestion at the busy United Airlines and American Airlines hub.
The agency in April said it would limit O’Hare to 2,708 arrivals and departures a day from May 17 through October 24, forcing the two major carriers to scale back plans and effectively holding operations near last year’s levels to avoid a repeat of widespread delays. The FAA said Friday the restrictions will now last until the end of October 2027.
Airlines had planned to fly 3,080 daily operations this summer, about 15% higher than last year.
The move shows the Trump administration is taking a hard line in the capacity race between the two carriers at one of the country’s most important hubs, underscoring the limits of growth at airports facing infrastructure constraints.
Despite the flight cuts, O’Hare has still suffered significant delays in recent weeks because of runway construction and weather issues.
The FAA earlier said O’Hare’s overscheduling reflected competitive scheduling dynamics between the airport’s two largest carriers and rejected calls to use newer summer 2026 schedules as the baseline, saying that could encourage airlines to file unrealistic schedules to improve their negotiating posture.
United and American have both been expanding in Chicago, as they compete for market share at one of the country’s most important hubs.
Last summer’s performance showed the risks. Only about 56% of departures and 58% of arrivals operated on time as congestion and construction slowed traffic.
The restrictions were initially billed as a temporary measure tied to construction and were to expire at the end of the summer travel season.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Aurora Ellis)
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