The Federal Aviation Administration says flight reductions are necessary at O’Hare International Airport this summer, citing planned increases in flights that “will exceed the airport’s capacity.” The plan to reduce flights comes in the midst of an arms race between the airport’s two larg est airlines, United and American, which have both announced significant increases to flight schedules at O’Hare as they compete over gate space at the airport, which is allocated based on how much an airline flew the previous year.  Now, the FAA is breaking up the party.  “Scheduled operations at ORD must be limited to address overscheduling,” a meeting notice released by the FAA said.  The agency plans to host a meeting about the schedule reductions on Wednesday. It will later issue an order on reductions that it says is expected to last through this summer. Only domestic airline operations will be affected. The feds’ meeting notice cited more than 3,000 planned daily operations at O’Hare on peak days, compared with daily operations last summer that peaked around 2,680. “This proposed increase is significant and would stress the runway, terminal, and air traffic control systems at the airport,” the meeting notice said. American Airlines jets at their gates at Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport on Sept. 30, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) American, O’Hare’s second largest airline, has said it plans to offer up to 526 daily departures out of O’Hare this summer, an increase of about 9.5% over last year but just under the 540 or so departures it offered per day in summer 2019. United says it plans to offer about 780 departures a day out of O’Hare this summer, an increase of about 34% over last year, and 23% more than it flew in 2019. American praised the decision in a statement Friday, saying it commended the FAA “for taking proactive action to ensure the operational integrity of the airfield and airspace in Chicago.” “The FAA now has the opportunity to achieve an improved customer experience for passengers traveling from, to, and through Chicago this summer,” American said. United said in a statement it appreciates U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford convening the meeting. “We share their commitment to running a safe and reliable operation out of ORD and look forward to a collaborative discussion,” United said. Under the city’s gate reallocation process, gates at O’Hare are allocated based on an airline’s flying frequency the previous year. The city has touted that policy as one that keeps competition active at O’Hare, which is in the early stages of a massive $8.2 billion revamp and which was the busiest airfield in the nation last year.  A legal battle over the gate reallocation last year resulted in United emerging with five new gates. American is expected to gain gates in the next reallocation because of the flights it’s added recently.  But in an earnings call earlier this year, United CEO Scott Kirby said the larger airline was “drawing a line in the sand.” “We are not going to allow them to win a single gate at our expense in 2026. We’re not trying to win gates, but we’re going to add as many flights as are required to make sure that we keep our gate count the same in Chicago,” he said. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Aviation, which oversees O’Hare, said the department “looks forward to continued collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation and airline partners” 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.” [email protected] ...read more read less