United Airlines gains five more gates at Chicago O'Hare amid legal challenge

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United Airlines gains five more gates at Chicago O'Hare amid legal challenge

Policy

Omar Idris United's vice president of O'Hare operations | LinkedIn

By Sky Industry News

Jun 5, 2025

United Airlines has completed a deal with the Chicago Department of Aviation to acquire five additional gates at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. This expansion comes as O'Hare prepares for a busy summer season with expected record numbers of flights and travelers.

With this agreement, United will operate 95 gates at O'Hare following its traffic growth in 2024. However, American Airlines, which currently holds 59 gates at the airport, is challenging this development. According to Marisa Rodriguez from WGN-TV, American Airlines has filed a lawsuit attempting to block United's gate acquisition.

United plans to introduce several new flights from O'Hare this autumn, adding to what it describes as its busiest flight schedule of the year. The airline aims to operate over 72,000 seats in October and reach a peak of 71,000 seats in July. New international routes will include destinations in Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic alongside domestic routes to Phoenix, Austin, and Orlando.

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Omar Idris, United's vice president of O'Hare operations, stated: "Building on the momentum of an anticipated record-breaking summer, we're taking things further this fall with our busiest flight schedule of the year. This is truly a historic time for our hometown hub of O'Hare."

American Airlines also expects a surge in travel this summer with passenger numbers up by 25% and the addition of 18 new destinations from O’Hare. As reported by ABC7 News, American claims that granting additional gates to United disrupts the balance at ORD and represents an unfair reallocation.

American plans to operate 480 daily flights this summer from ORD across 150 destinations. Despite having fewer gates than United at O’Hare, American handles just over half but manages more than 80% of the airport’s traffic.

Meanwhile, ongoing developments under the O’Hare-21 project are set to transform ORD with a $2.2 billion Global Terminal expected to be one of the largest and most advanced airport facilities in the U.S., replacing Terminal 2 with expanded facilities aimed at improving passenger experience.