American plans to offer 25% more seats year over year at ORD this summer, the Chicago Department of Aviation says.
Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) and Chicago Midway (MDW) expect airlines to collectively offer a record 17.8 million departing seats across the two airports in the June-August period, with 15 more routes added compared to the same period in 2024.
The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), which manages ORD and MDW, said airlines are scheduled to offer 7% more departing seats across the two airports for the June-August period compared to 2024 and 4% more than 2019.
The two airports combined will have 265 routes in the upcoming summer versus 250 in the 2024 summer.
CDA noted that “American Airlines and United Airlines, the largest hub carriers at O’Hare, have both announced significant expansion plans.”
American plans to offer 25% more seats year over year at ORD this summer, the CDA said. American will operate 22% more departures than last summer, with a peak of 480 daily flights. In addition, Chicago-based United “will operate more seats out of Chicago in 2025 than at any point in the past two decades.”
Southwest Airlines, which operates out of both MDW and ORD, will offer nonstop service to 77 destinations across the two airports for the June-August period, up from 66 operated only from MDW in July 2019, according to CDA.
New American routes to be added from ORD for the summer (both year-round and seasonal services) include Liberia, Costa Rica; Madrid; Naples, Italy; Bismarck, North Dakota; Boise, Idaho; Colorado Springs; Hyannis, Massachusetts; Key West, Florida; and Spokane, Washington.
New United routes (year-round and seasonal) from ORD to be added for the summer include Edmonton, Halifax and Winnipeg in Canada; Billings, Montana; Ontario, California; Pellston, Michigan; Rhinelander, Wisconsin; and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Southwest is adding two routes from Midway for the summer: Boise and Spokane.
A number of international carriers are also starting new services for the summer. Cathay Pacific will offer daily Hong Kong-ORD service—the first time the carrier has operated the route since 2019. Avianca will start service between San Salvador, El Salvador and ORD, while WestJet will fly between ORD and Edmonton. CDA noted Turkish Airlines will increase ORD-Istanbul service from 14X-weekly to 17X-weekly from July 7.
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