American Airlines fires back at United and unveils three competing routes at Chicago-O’Hare

American Airlines is serious in its intentions to go after United Airlines in Chicago.

Photo: American Airlines

American Airlines, just a day after United Airlines’ executives had shared thoughts about the former’s chances to survive a capacity war at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), has unveiled three returning routes from the airport that directly compete with United Airlines.

On January 22, 2026, American Airlines said that beginning May 21, it will launch year-round double-daily services from ORD to Allentown Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE).

Both will be operated with Embraer E170 aircraft.

The third route will connect ORD with Kahului Airport (OGG), operated daily between December 17 and March 27, 2027, with a Boeing 787-8.

Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that American Airlines had served ORD-ABE from April 2019 until May 2023, while its flights from ORD to CAE began in July 2023 and ended in January 2025.

According to Cirium’s Diio Mi, which compiled data from the Department of Transportation (DOT), the airline’s average load factors on ORD-ABE were 71% throughout the route’s lifetime.

On ORD-CAE, load factors were, on average, 83%, climbing to a monthly average of 84.4% when it ended the route in January 2025.

United Airlines overlap

All three routes will overlap with United Airlines’ flights from ORD. The carrier has scheduled three daily flights from ORD to ABE throughout 2026, multiple daily flights on ORD-CAE, and, during the peak season, five weekly or daily departures to OGG.

During the non-peak travel season, United Airlines still has once-weekly flights between ORD and OGG.

Before American Airlines unveiled the latest additions to its route network, the two airlines already had over 130 overlapping routes from ORD in April 2026, including flights to international destinations.

With the latest announcement, American Airlines highlighted its storied history at ORD, saying that in 1926, “the roots of the American Airlines customers around the world know today were planted with a flight from Chicago to St. Louis.”

“Since then, Chicago has remained an important part of the airline’s story.”

American Airlines in the red

However, those roots could be taken out of the ground at ORD by none other than United Airlines.

One of the topics that came up during United Airlines’ Q4 2025 earnings call was the two airlines’ capacity war at ORD, which has continued to make headlines throughout the past year, including Scott Kirby, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Airlines, estimating that American Airlines was losing $800 million per year at ORD.

Following some subtle shade, which included comments that United Airlines was “only one of two large US carriers that can say all their hubs [were] profitable in 2025,” with the other carrier being Delta Air Lines, Kirby said that United Airlines has been able to increase its market share “everywhere” it wanted to.

Kirby detailed that in 2016, American Airlines had a higher local market share, but despite the Dallas-based airline’s recent growth at ORD, United Airlines “now has a 22-point lead with Chicago-based customers” and “38-point lead with brand-loyal customers.”

Even with all of the noise and competition at ORD, within the airline’s network, the airport’s revenue per available seat mile (RASM) outperformed “the rest of the system by 1%,” according to the CEO.

“At the beginning of 2026, there is another wave of growth coming from that competitor [American Airlines – ed. note], mostly that is going to wind up exactly the same as it did last year […].”

Kirby added that United Airlines chose not to respond, and estimated that American Airlines will win three gates back at ORD. It previously purchased two preferential use gates at ORD from Spirit Airlines.

“They are going to win three gates back at our expense” when the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) reallocates gates at ORD later this year, Kirby noted.

However, unlike in 2025, in 2026, United Airlines will draw “a line in the sand,” and is not going to allow American Airlines to win a “single gate at our expense in 2026.”

“American, and we are pretty good at estimating this, is likely to push to about $1 billion in losses at [ORD].”

When later asked to provide more color about the situation at ORD, Kirby responded that United Airlines “will be in the black, while American [will be] in the red.”