FAA doubles down on summer flight reductions at O’Hare

Negotiations resume Thursday between the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines over pending flight reductions this summer at O’Hare International Airport, with regulators pushing tighter caps than previously announced.

The FAA in February took steps to slim operations at O’Hare, warning that planned schedule increases combined with airport construction would “stress the runway, terminal, and air traffic control systems at the airport.”

The agency had proposed scaling back to 2,800 daily departures and arrivals, but the latest benchmark is 2,608, according to a draft document.

The move comes as rivals United Airlines and American Airlines are adding flights and destinations to their summer rosters.

In summer 2025, O’Hare operations topped out at 2,680 flights a day. In comparison, the summer 2026 schedule exceeds 3,080 operations on peak days, officials said.

“Disruptions at O’Hare can, and do, lead to widespread delays and disruptions at other airports,” the FAA contends.

The agency met with airline executives and the Chicago Department of Aviation the first week of February and announced Monday that talks would resume Thursday.

CDA officials informed the agency in a filing last week that O’Hare’s eight runways and other improvements have allowed the airport to operate safely at the current rate of about 2,800 operations a day.

“Any cap on O’Hare’s summer 2026 operations lower than this demonstrated, manageable capacity is unwarranted and would lead to significant disruption to the national airspace system,” CDA leaders said.

The city also suggested that air traffic control facilities at O’Hare and in the region are understaffed and hiring more controllers would improve aircraft congestion.

Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines weighed in to blame American and United for the flight surge.

“The question the FAA must now confront is which carriers drove that surge and … which carriers should bear the cost of correcting it,” Spirit executives told the FAA.

The summer scheduling season stretches from March 29 through Oct. 24.