Southwest Airlines announced Friday that it will stop operating flights out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport in June.
In a travel advisory posted to their website, Southwest said the last day of service to, from or through O’Hare will be June 3, 2026. Any travel that includes O’Hare on or after June 4, 2026, will be impacted by this change.
Travelers whose tickets are for before or on June 3 will not be affected.
If you’re flying Southwest after that date, can rebook or travel standby through Chicago Midway International Airport, which is Southwest’s primary hub in the city. They can also rebook to fly from Milwaukee or Indianapolis.
In a statement to CBS News Chicago, Southwest said, “Operating at Chicago O’Hare continues to be challenging, and we are confident we can serve Chicagoland through our strongly-held position at Chicago Midway.”
Southwest said customers are eligible to have their tickets refunded if they’re for on or after June 4 as long as the tickets are unused.
Southwest did not give a reason for why it is ending its service to, from and through O’Hare in their statement. The same changes also apply to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Depaul University transportation expert Joe Schwieterman called it a surprising move on the part of Southwest.
“O’Hare’s a really important airport in the national air system,” he said.
Schwieterman said Southwest aimed to cater to more customers when it started O’Hare service five years ago, and one factor pushing the airline to depart O’Hare might be the FAA wanting to cap the number of flights at the airport this summer.
“Southwest is seeing that there could be a big headache at O’Hare. We could get an announcement with FAA that all airlines have to cut flights 10 or 15 percent, and that’s tough for Southwest to do, because they don’t have that many flights there,” he said.
That threat from the FAA comes as United Airlines and American Airlines significantly increased flights at O’Hare in recent months, pushing its capacity.
The Chicago Department of Aviation has argued O’Hare can handle 2,800 flights a day, and is arguing against a proposal from the FAA to limit flights to 2,400 a day, saying, “Any cap on ORD’s Summer 2026 operations lower than this demonstrated, manageable capacity is unwarranted, and would lead to significant disruption to the National Airspace System.”
Schwieterman warned pushing the airport’s limits increases the risk of severe delays or other disruptions, which the FAA is trying to avoid.
“I think there’s warning signs that 2,800 sounds viable until you’ve got a major snowstorm or the air traffic control situation worsens,” he said.
More information on how to make changes or get tickets refunded is available on Southwest’s website.
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