The US Federal Aviation Administration is set to significantly cut planned flights at Chicago O’Hare Airport.
The FAA says the battle for supremacy at O’Hare between American and United Airlines is fueling an unrealistic number of planned flights.
The airlines are proposing schedules beyond what the airport can practically handle.
The FAA will chair a schedule reduction meeting with airline this week to decide on flight reductions for the busy summer season through October 25.
Based on the flights currently planned, this summer will be O’Hare’s busiest ever.
It equates to an extra 400 daily flights compared to last summer.
United alone is looking to boost the number of summer flights by about 20%.
This growth is unrealistic, the FAA says.
The ‘increase is significant and would stress the runway, terminal, and air traffic control systems.’
O’Hare currently handles about 100 departures and arrivals per hour.
The FAA is looking to impose a cap of 2,800 flights per day for the summer season.
