FAA meeting could reduce United, American flights at Chicago O'Hare Airport this year
A high-stakes meeting held Wednesday could affect anyone who plans to travel through O'Hare International Airport this spring, summer, or even fall.
The Federal Aviation Administration may require airline carriers to reschedule or even cancel flights that people already booked due to concerns about airport congestion.
The meeting was held Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., and it could impact people traveling to and from Chicago in just a few weeks.
According to federal documents, what the FAA considers the summer season is much broader than the actual summer. It runs for seven months — from March 25 all the way through Oct. 25.
The FAA says this summer season is on pace to be too busy at O'Hare. A total of 3,080 daily flights are scheduled there, versus the 2,680 last summer season.
The FAA said the significant increase could put stress on the runways, terminals, and traffic control systems at O'Hare. The agency wants to "prevent large-scale disruption," which is what prompted the "schedule reduction meeting" with United Airlines and American Airlines being held Wednesday.
Both carriers issued statements confirming their commitment to safety. American pointed the finger at United, saying United is trying to snap up more gates at O'Hare and block American's growth by adding more flights.
"We are grateful for the FAA taking proactive steps to protect the flying public who count on ORD to run reliably," American said in a statement. "Without intervention, United's reckless scheduling will lead to challenging conditions at ORD this summer: long taxi times, extensive tarmac delays, missed customer connections, disrupted crew sequences and cascading disruptions across the system. Those conditions don't just impact our customers — they put enormous strain on our frontline teams and our airport and federal partners. We are hopeful that the FAA's meeting will lead to more predictable travel and a better experience for everyone."
Transportation expert and DePaul University professor Joe Schwieterman said there is indeed a problem with too many flights being booked at O'Hare.
"Already, our terminals are pushed to the max," he said, "and the FAA in some way is blowing the whistle saying this isn't going to work especially this summer."
The Chicago Department of Aviation released the following statement:
"The City of Chicago, working in close partnership with its airline stakeholders and the federal government, has invested more than $6 billion to modernize the airfield at O'Hare International Airport. This transformative effort created a comprehensive eight-runway system, enabling O'Hare to support more flight operations than any other airport in the nation.
"Under Mayor Johnson's leadership, O'Hare is well-positioned to accommodate traffic growth beyond 2025 levels. To maximize that runway investment, the CDA continues to advance the ORDNext capital program, which includes construction of two new satellite concourses and a new Global Terminal to replace Terminal 2. The CDA looks forward to continued collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation and airline partners in the days ahead to finalize a temporary adjustment to the summer schedule at O'Hare that ensures safe and efficient operations while taking into account current gate availability, air traffic control staffing capacity, and ongoing construction activity."
If you're planning to fly out of Chicago this summer season and panicking now, CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg suggests snagging the first plane of the day.
"That's the one flight they're not going to cancel, because they want to get those planes in the air as fast as they can every morning. That's what you want to do," Greenberg said. "It's the flights after 2 o'clock in the afternoon that are going to take the biggest heat."
Greenberg advised that anyone who already has plane tickets should not cancel their flight, but should instead try to reschedule it earlier in the day. He also advised that there are consumer protections.
"If the airline cancels your flight based on this FAA meeting, then you're entitled to a full refund back to your original form of purchase," he said, "or the airline may give you a waiver allowing you to rebook at no penalty."
How soon after the meeting Wednesday that travelers will learn if their flights are getting bumped is unclear.