Forvis Mazars, the monitoring trustee that was appointed to oversee the remedy slots after the competition authorities approved the Atlantic Joint Business Agreement (AJBA) joint venture between multiple oneworld airlines, is inviting potential entrants to bid for daily slots to operate flights between London, the United Kingdom, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).
In a notice published on March 5, 2026, Forvis Mazars invited potential suitors to bid on up to daily slots from either London Gatwick Airport (LGW) or Heathrow Airport (LHR) to ORD. The services will start during the winter 2026/2027 season, which will begin on October 25.
The winning airline would have to operate at least four weekly flights, either direct or one-stop, “provided the total elapsed time is no more than four hours longer than the non-stop service,” defined as a ‘competitive one-stop air service,' during the summer season, and at least four weekly flights during the winter season.
Winter season services could be direct, a ‘competitive one-stop air service,’ or a combination of both.
Airlines seeking to bid for the slots must submit their applications by March 19. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will evaluate the bids by April 23.
In 2025, when the CMA approved the slot release related to the AJBA, it approved Delta Air Lines’ services between LHR and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), and Virgin Atlantic’s flights from LHR to Miami International Airport (MIA).
“It is anticipated that the slots will be operated by Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways until the end of the IATA Winter season 2035 to 2036.”
Cirium’s Diio Mi shows that during the upcoming summer season, three airlines will fly between LHR and ORD: American Airlines, British Airways, and United Airlines. The last carrier to connect the two cities directly that was not one of the aforementioned three was Norwegian, which operated an LGW-ORD service until October 2019.
Virgin Atlantic also operated direct flights on the route between May 2007 and October 2016, which became seasonal in May 2010.
AJBA currently includes Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, and Iberia. The CMA accepted the joint venture’s commitments in August 2025, having opened the investigation into the joint venture in October 2018.
According to the CMA, when the European Commission (EC) approved the AJBA in 2010, the partners’ commitments expired in 2020, which is why its own investigation began in October 2018.
The authority focused on four routes from London, namely to BOS, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), MIA, and ORD, since the joint venture’s partners would likely “have a sufficient degree of market power on each of the relevant markets on the [four routes] such that it is liable to appreciably restrict competition on those relevant markets.”
As a result, and in the absence of remedies, this could have affected price, the quality of service, and other competition factors. While the AJBA has been implemented since 2010, the CMA was “concerned about the future impact of the AJBA” on the four routes.
Rytis Beresnevicius
