FAA meets again with airlines on possible flight reductions at O'Hare
Cuts to summer flight schedules out of O'Hare International Airport could be on the way as the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines met again on Thursday to make decisions on those cuts.
The FAA met with officials from United, American, and other smaller domestic carriers that operate out of O'Hare to go over cuts to the summer flight schedule that runs from the end of March to the end of October.
The FAA has identified O'Hare as one of the most delayed airports in the nation last summer. Officials said the planned reduction in flights this summer will help ensure the remaining flights are on time, and increase safety.
A total of 3,080 flights currently are scheduled at O'Hare on peak summer days — hundreds more per day than at the airport last summer, when there were 2,554 per day.
The FAA wants to cap the number of flights at 2,608 per day, but the Chicago Department of Aviation has proposed a cap of 2,800 per day.
In a statement, the FAA said the airport's current schedule would "stress the runway, terminal, and air traffic control."
But the Chicago Department of Aviation argued, "Any cap on this year's operations that is lower than the demonstrated manageable capacity is unwarranted, and would significantly disrupt the national airspace system."
Travelers we flying at O'Hare on Thursday had mixed feelings about the expected cuts in flights.
"They shouldn't be cutting back flights. It's only going to ruin the travel industry," Karen Hurlbut said.
Jennifer Gartz said, if the number of flights at O'Hare is causing delays across the country, then something has to change.
"If it's making things more inefficient because it's backing up flights throughout the country because you can't get flights in, you can't land, you can't get them out because it's all jammed up, then yeah you can't do that, because it's affecting the travel throughout the whole entire country," she said.
FAA spokespeople said meetings with the airlines at O'Hare will continue until they come to a resolution.