A United and American alliance? United CEO floats idea amid intense O’Hare rivalry

An unprecedented period in which the federal government is considering cutting summer flights at O’Hare International Airport amid an escalating United and American airlines rivalry just got stranger.

United CEO Scott Kirby floated the idea of merging with archenemy American during a February White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Neither United nor American officials had any comments on the issue.

The idea of the two competitors joining forces even as both are ramping up flights at O’Hare “seems to have come out of the blue,” aviation expert and DePaul University Professor Joseph Schwieterman said.

“There is a great of bravado on floating a merger idea as ambitious as this one,” Schwieterman said.

“A merger like this faces long odds, but it could trigger actions by other airlines in a way that reshapes the debate about the airline industry's future.”

According to Reuters’ sources, “Kirby has argued to administration officials that a combined airline would be a stronger competitor in international markets and noted the Trump administration has focused on U.S. trade deficits around the globe.”

But the likelihood of U.S. regulators approving a United/American union is dubious given the impact it could have on competition and ticket prices.

“The ramifications for O'Hare — and its ongoing terminal expansion — would be enormous,” Schwieterman said. “The city would have to rethink how it approaches new terminals.

“I have trouble imagining approval of a merger that gives one entity around 40% of the domestic market,” noted Schwieterman, director of DePaul's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development.

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 FAA had proposed scaling back to 2,800 daily departures and arrivals, but its latest benchmark is 2,608.

The move came after United and American announced expanded flights and destinations on their summer rosters.

Last summer, O’Hare operations topped out at 2,680 flights a day. In comparison, the summer 2026 schedule would exceed 3,080 operations on peak days, according to the FAA.

No decision has been made on flight numbers yet, officials said.