American Airlines may be headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, but the company has long had its eye on Chicago, where it has had a hub for more than four decades. But Chicago-based United Airlines leads the way at O’Hare, with roughly 750 daily flights, compared with American’s 500-plus flights each day.
American recently increased its presence at O’Hare by adding 168 flights and is expected to have a 22% increase in the first half of 2026 compared to the first half of 2025.
It has been reported that American is featuring 19 new or returning routes from the Windy City, which include Canton-Akron, Chattanooga, Mexico City, Harrisonburg, Roanoke, Lewisburg, Honolulu, San Jose, Calif., Sun Valley, Santa Fe, Erie, Idaho Falls, Bristol, Lincoln, Curaçao, Christiansted, St. Croix, St. Maarten, Querétaro and San José, Costa Rica.
American held an employee town hall meeting after last week’s corporate earnings release and, at the meeting, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Nathaniel Pieper, addressed the carrier’s growth and plans at O’Hare.
“We can win in Chicago, team, but it's got to be a big team effort. Common enemy is one of the things that throughout life and history has been a very effective rallying cry,” Pieper said.
O’Hare is currently in the midst of a massive rebuilding plan, including a terminal expansion set to cost $8 billion and run through at lease 2033.
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