US transportation secretary Sean Duffy says the DOT acted after airlines planned to significantly increase their operations at O’Hare.
The US Federal Aviation Administration will cap Chicago O’Hare International airport’s capacity to 2,708 daily flights this summer, a move intended to prevent widespread delays.
The cap applies to flights at O’Hare through 24 October and will limit daily flights there to levels roughly equal to last year, according to an FAA order released by the agency on 16 March.
The FAA took action after airlines released schedules that would have seen them operate many more flights this summer than last at O’Hare. United Airlines and American Airlines had planned significant expansions there amid an escalating competitive battle.
United operates a massive hub at O’Hare; American has a smaller hub there, after having pulled back from the airport in recent years.
The planned additional flights would have exceeded “the airport’s capacity throughout summer 2026 based on current factors such as airport construction and competitive scheduling dynamics occurring between the two largest carriers at the airport”, the FAA’s order says.
Limited O’Hare to 2,708 flights daily will ensure delays there this summer are not more widespread than last summer, when less than 60% of all departing and arriving flights did so on time, the DOT says.
The FAA will allocate the daily flights to airlines based on their schedules last summer, and foreign airlines will not be asked to cut flights.
“If you book a ticket, we want you and your family to have the certainty that you’ll fly without endless delays and cancellations,” US transportation secretary Sean Duffy says in disclosing the FAA’s O’Hare cap.
He adds that the DOT likewise last year helped reduce delays at Newark Liberty International airport — another United hub — partly by implementing capacity caps.
“Applying that same strategy at O’Hare – where unrealistic schedules were set to dramatically exceed what they could handle – will reduce delays and make this busy summer travel season a little easier,” Duffy adds.
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