United Airlines is not backing down in its battle with American Airlines over dominance at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD).
Scott Kirby, the CEO of United, told investors on Wednesday that his airline has drawn a "line in the sand" over further expansion by American at the airport.
"We're not going to allow them to win a single gate at our expense in 2026," he said, referring to how the Chicago Department of Aviation allocates gates at ORD. "We're not trying to win gates. We're going to add as many flights as are required to make sure that we keep our gate count the same in Chicago. We're just going to stay focused."
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American lost five gates at ORD to United for a total of 59 when they were last reallocated in October 2025. The city allocates gates at the airport based on the average number of departures an airline operates the year before. United has 95 gates.
In 2025, American operated an average of 412 departures a day from ORD and United 541 departures, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.
"Chicago is obviously a battleground," said Robert Isom, CEO of American, at an investor conference in December. "We're just getting back to where we were prior to the pandemic … that's a place that, look, we do very, very well and have great confidence that [new] capacity is going to be profitably deployed."
American plans to expand its schedule to more than 500 departures a day in 2026, Isom added.
United expects American to regain three gates this year based on the flights the latter added in 2025. But that is where Kirby is drawing the metaphorical line.
United has responded in kind to American's ORD flight additions this year. A day after the latter announced new nonstops to Erie International Airport (ERI) in Pennsylvania, Lincoln Airport (LNK) in Nebraska and Tri-Cities Airport (TRI) in Tennessee in December, United unveiled the same routes.
Hub battle: United escalates Chicago turf war against American with 2 new routes
The move is the latest in a bruising battle between American and United for dominance at ORD. While the competition dates to the 1980s when legendary American CEO Robert Crandall took on United by building a hub at ORD, it re-ignited after Kirby joined United from American in 2016.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, United has actively targeted local corporate customers and launched targeted ad campaigns to woo Windy City fliers.
United estimates that American lost $500 million at ORD in 2025, Kirby said. He added that his carrier made a roughly $500 million profit at the airport.
"American, and we're pretty good at estimating this, is likely to push to about $1 billion in losses in Chicago," he added. "We're going to just stay focused on the strategy that's worked for the last decade."
Responding to Kirby's statements, an American spokesperson said: "While it's clear that one hub carrier would prefer less competition at O'Hare, the inconsistent, third-party claims regarding our performance in Chicago are unsubstantiated … Two competing hub carriers means ORD is positioned to provide lower fares and more options to travel to, from and through Chicago. That competition is inherently good for the City of Chicago and economic development in the region, as well as for consumers, both in Chicago and beyond, and is a key contributor to O'Hare's return to the busiest airfield in the nation in 2025."
The American spokesperson added that the airline's growth and investment at ORD "demonstrates our commitment to Chicago far more than external claims and tactics."
Jamie Baker, an airlines analyst at JP Morgan, wrote on Wednesday that he does not expect American "to throw in the towel in Chicago any time soon … if ever."
Profits from American's AAdvantage loyalty program and its other hubs, particularly at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Baker wrote, "offset" potential losses at ORD.
Kirby, asked broadly about whether airlines should maintain money-losing routes and hubs — what are euphemistically described as "strategic" in airline executive speak — said no.
"The most important thing for a successful commercial airline is to know when to pull out of loss-making markets," he said, also referring to the financial challenges budget airlines face in the U.S.
Kirby has closed at least three airline hubs in his career: America West Airlines at John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in 2003; and US Airways at Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in 2009 and New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in 2011, though American says today that both LaGuardia and JFK work in tandem as part of a New York hub.
United, under former CEO Jeff Smisek, closed its hub at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) in 2014 citing financial losses.
American has not closed a hub since merging with US Airways in 2014. Prior to that, the carrier closed hubs San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in 2013, St. Louis-Lambert International Airport (STL) in 2009 and, in the 1990s, hubs at Nashville International Airport (BNA), Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and San José Mineta International Airport (SJC) in California.
Kirby did not comment on the future of bankrupt Spirit Airlines or the proposed merger of Allegiant Air and Sun Country Airlines.
Asked for any additional color on his ORD comments, Kirby said simply: "The color will be [we] will be in the black while American is in the red."
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