Southwest Airlines introduced Friday that it’ll cease working flights out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport in June.
In a journey advisory posted to their web site, Southwest mentioned the final day of service to, from or via O’Hare will likely be June 3, 2026. Any journey that features O’Hare on or after June 4, 2026, will likely be impacted by this variation.
Travelers whose tickets are for earlier than or on June 3 won’t be affected.
If you are flying Southwest after that date, can rebook or journey standby via Chicago Midway International Airport, which is Southwest’s main hub in the town. They can even rebook to fly from Milwaukee or Indianapolis.
In a press release to CBS News Chicago, Southwest mentioned, “Operating at Chicago O’Hare continues to be challenging, and we are confident we can serve Chicagoland through our strongly-held position at Chicago Midway.”
Southwest mentioned clients are eligible to have their tickets refunded in the event that they’re for on or after June 4 so long as the tickets are unused.
Southwest didn’t give a motive for why it’s ending its service to, from and thru O’Hare in their assertion. The identical modifications additionally apply to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Depaul University transportation skilled Joe Schwieterman referred to as it a stunning transfer on the a part of Southwest.
“O’Hare’s a really important airport in the national air system,” he mentioned.
Schwieterman mentioned Southwest aimed to cater to extra clients when it began O’Hare service 5 years in the past, and one issue pushing the airline to depart O’Hare is likely to be the FAA wanting to cap the number of flights at the airport this summer.
“Southwest is seeing that there could be a big headache at O’Hare. We could get an announcement with FAA that all airlines have to cut flights 10 or 15 percent, and that’s tough for Southwest to do, because they don’t have that many flights there,” he mentioned.
That threat from the FAA comes as United Airlines and American Airlines considerably elevated flights at O’Hare in current months, pushing its capability.
The Chicago Department of Aviation has argued O’Hare can deal with 2,800 flights a day, and is arguing towards a proposal from the FAA to restrict flights to 2,400 a day, saying, “Any cap on ORD’s Summer 2026 operations lower than this demonstrated, manageable capacity is unwarranted, and would lead to significant disruption to the National Airspace System.”
Schwieterman warned pushing the airport’s limits will increase the chance of extreme delays or different disruptions, which the FAA is making an attempt to keep away from.
“I think there’s warning signs that 2,800 sounds viable until you’ve got a major snowstorm or the air traffic control situation worsens,” he mentioned.
More data on make modifications or get tickets refunded is accessible on Southwest’s website.
