O'Hare's flight boom puts pressure on expansion plans
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O'Hare Airport in 2026. Photo: Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
Just a week after Chicago's O'Hare Airport was crowned the busiest airport in America, United and American Airlines are adding even more flights.
The big picture: United Airlines announced its largest summer schedule ever at O'Hare, which includes a record 750 daily flights and the addition of five new Midwest routes. The Chicago-based airline says it will hire 2,500 employees to support this record expansion.
- The announcement comes on the heels of United's major competitor, American Airlines, which just revealed it was adding 100 daily flights to its O'Hare roster, just in time for spring break.
Why it matters: Added flights will give consumers more options, but will also put a strain on O'Hare, which is in the midst of renovations.
Between the lines: More flights mean more money for the airlines.
- They are not only the beneficiaries of the O'Hare renovation, which will add more gates, concourses and space, but they are also stakeholders who are paying for it and it seems they want a return on their investments now, rather than later.
Zoom in: Some airline experts are concerned about the massive expansion plans, especially since they rely on current O'Hare renovation timelines, which won't be completely done until 2032.
What they're saying: "The latest expansion makes it even more urgent for the city of Chicago to rethink the sequencing of O'Hare's terminal expansion plan. The current plan has serious problems, given the growth in flights," DePaul professor Joe Schwieterman tells Axios. Schwieterman runs the Chaddick Institute, which explores local transit issues.
- "Unfortunately, such sudden growth could result in some service degradation, such as overcrowded terminals and waiting on airplanes on tarmacs for gates to open up when there is inclement weather."
The intrigue: Just last week, the FAA ordered a ground stop at O'Hare — not for weather, but for volume. This usually happens when too many flights meet too few air traffic controllers.
- O'Hare had an uneven 2025 for flight delays and cancellations. It ranked near the bottom for delays at large U.S. airports, but those numbers were skewed by the impact of November's government shutdown and inclement weather, which happens frequently in Chicago winters.
Yes, but: The city doesn't seem to be worried about the traffic. Instead, city leaders happily touted the new busiest airport distinction. "This is more than a statistic, it's a statement about Chicago's momentum," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a press release.
Flashback: In December, the Chaddick Institute released a study suggesting the city needs to fast-track its renovation plans.
- The city seemed to listen, announcing it would work on new gates and concourses before tackling a global terminal.
What we're watching: Schwieterman thinks the city is not done tinkering with its timeline. "I suspect there will soon be news about plans for terminal expansion," he adds.
The bottom line: Both United and American Airlines are ready to supersize their offerings in Chicago, but it's unclear if the O'Hare expansion plan will keep up with the demand.