FAA to chop flights at Chicago O’Hare as summer time journey ramps up

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A brand new cap on operations at Chicago O’Hare International Airport goals to ease congestion and enhance reliability.

Officials are reducing flights on the nation’s busiest airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), this summer time to forestall a repeat of final yr’s rampant delays and cancellations.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Federal Aviation Administration introduced the scheduling discount at ORD on April 16. Between May 17 and Oct. 24, day by day operations will likely be restricted to 2,708 flights.

“Our number one priority is the safety of the flying public, and that means ensuring airline schedules reflect what the system can safely handle, said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford in a press release on April 16. “We recognize the airways working along with us to achieve a accountable stage of operations that strengthens security and delivers a extra dependable journey expertise for the American public.”

ORD is considered the busiest airport in the United States by flight volume. Last summer, the Chicago hub saw widespread flight disruptions, with less than 60% of arrivals and departures on time.

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This summer was potentially going to be even busier, with over 3,080 daily flights proposed for peak days – a 14.9% peak-day increase from summer 2025. The airport’s air traffic controllers have also been facing challenges of constrained gate capacity and taxiway closures from long-term construction projects.

The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), which oversees ORD, told USA TODAY that it has worked to address FAA concerns about construction-related delays, which are expected to be minimal.

“Mayor Brandon Johnson and the CDA will proceed to advocate for robust competitors amongst O’Hare’s hub carriers, together with elevated federal funding in new passenger services and air site visitors management staffing throughout the Chicago area,” said CDA.

The city agency added it will ensure flight limits do not go beyond the summer nor fall below last summer’s operations.

“If you e book a ticket, we would like you and your loved ones to have the knowledge that you just’ll fly with out countless delays and cancellations,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.

“We efficiently turned Newark Liberty International into essentially the most on-time airport within the Tri-State Area by fixing telecoms points at document velocity and lowering overcapacity,” Duffy continued. “Applying that very same technique at O’Hare – the place unrealistic schedules have been set to dramatically exceed what they may deal with – will cut back delays and make this busy summer time journey season slightly simpler. Along with our work to modernize air site visitors management and enhance staffing, the Trump Administration is utilizing each instrument at its disposal to ship a secure, environment friendly, and seamless flying expertise.”

In spring 2025, air traffic control staffing issues, equipment failures and runway construction left Newark Liberty International Airport passengers in a monthlong wake of delays and cancellations. In response, the FAA capped flight operations last summer to ease travel at the Northeast hub.

The decision follows a string of March meetings between the FAA, ORD representatives, the City of Chicago and airlines, officials said. Flight operations will be allocated among the airlines based on their approved summer 2025 schedules.

The FAA said it will also take other steps to better operations at ORD, such as adding more air traffic controllers to increase bandwidth plus optimizing routes and the airspace around Chicago.