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player ready...Earlier this year, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby declared a “line in the sand” against American Airlines, as he vowed to add as many new flights as necessary to keep the lead in market share at Chicago’s hotly contested O’Hare International Airport.
Yet the once-bombastic leadership at Chicago-based United has recently taken a more reserved stance in the battle for supremacy at O’Hare. With the rivalry between the two airlines at a stalemate because of a federal cap on the number of flights at O’Hare, both airlines turned to trading underhanded barbs against each other as they talked to investors this week about their latest earnings.
Even though United had to drop its planned escalation, the battle has continued. Executives with the airline said during Wednesday’s third-quarter earnings call that Chicago lagged behind much of United’s network in revenue per available seat mile, a leading industry metric.
But United executives remain bullish on the airline’s position at O’Hare, saying that it has continued to grow its share of revenue at the airport. They again boasted that the airline has captured more than 50% of revenue coming from passengers based in Chicago.
“United probably has a stronger position,” said Brett Snyder, who runs Cranky Flier, an industry website. “It certainly flies to more long-haul destinations. It has a more robust position, and it is undoubtedly going to be more profitable or less unprofitable than American is in Chicago, just based on what we know.”
Executives at Fort Worth, Texas-based American, which has struggled to break even, told investors Thursday that the airline would be profitable if oil prices had not risen. Their remarks also hinted at an acknowledgement that American has had to play catch-up in Chicago and beyond.
“Our growth in 2026 has all been about reestablishing our network,” CEO Robert Isom said. “I think everybody knows that we considerably under-grew our network competitors since the pandemic. And we’re really pleased that we’re in a position now where we have Chicago reestablished and have been able to flesh out the hubs in Philadelphia and Phoenix, and a little bit of growth in Miami.”
The battle at O’Hare indeed began after the pandemic, when American turned its attention away from Chicago and bolstered its flying from its dominant Sun Belt hubs like Dallas-Fort Worth and Charlotte, North Carolina. While American retrenched, United ramped up its flights from O’Hare.
American was caught flat-footed in 2025, when the city reallocated the gates at O’Hare to airlines based on how much they had used their gate areas. United gained gates at the expense of American, which then decided to go full-throttle to reclaim what it had lost by adding flights.
United’s Kirby, a former American executive, could not allow his rival to claw back any more gates.
So, as 2026 began, both airlines planned to add so many flights that it threatened to overwhelm O’Hare, where summer storms can paralyze operations and construction on a new concourse has lengthened the time it takes for arriving planes to get to their gates.
The Federal Aviation Administration stepped in and capped the number of departures and arrivals. The limits reflected the proportion of flights American and United respectively flew during the summer of 2025, before United could use its newly allocated gates.
American also reclaimed gates in the newest round of gate reallocation, which took effect this month. The changes have combined to create a period of forced detente between the two airlines.
“For Chicago, you know, whether I like it or not, the FAA has imposed caps, and those are a reality,” said Andrew Nocella, United’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “And that’s gonna change the game a bit.”
Executives at American, long in second place at O’Hare behind United, did not discuss the flight caps during their earnings call on Thursday. But they seemed satisfied with American’s strengthened presence, and showed no sign of relenting.
The tug-of-war at O’Hare has focused on boosting revenue from customers in the nation’s third-largest metropolitan area. However, the airport has also become ground zero in the battle for air supremacy among the largest U.S. airlines.
Kirby, the ever-vocal United leader, often says that the U.S. has only two true premium global carriers, United and Delta. He stepped up his rhetoric on Wednesday, saying that United has the best product “in the Western world.”
“Scott has a vested interest in this being true,” Snyder said. “The CEOs at other airlines don’t tend to say much, so Scott can get out there, and he can beat his chest. And he can make these proclamations. And I think the hope is that he is gonna will this to be true, just by saying it — but at least influence people like Wall Street.”
United had a net income of $1.03 billion in the third quarter . Kirby said he expected oil prices to remain elevated through 2027, but that United has remained strong despite that headwind.
American, meanwhile, reported a loss of $269 million in the third quarter, compared to a $114 million loss in the same quarter last year. Still, revenue increased 19% year over year.
“We produced a loss in the quarter that, but for this fuel spike, would’ve been solidly profitable,” Isom said. “The short-term pressures notwithstanding, we’re moving in the right direction, and with urgency. We’re not satisfied with a loss, no matter the reason, and we will do better.”
Both airlines touted the addition of so-called premium amenities to their aircraft. United’s Kirby cited the installation of Starlink Wi-Fi as a prime motivator for customers loyal to other airlines to switch.
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American also plans to install Starlink on some of its aircraft, and executives touted the airline’s efforts to reduce missed connections and other common issues. They also touted new service from O’Hare to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, which will begin in March.
The moves come as the U.S. airline industry has become decidedly premium-heavy, in which the major legacy carriers cater to higher-spending and more-loyal customers. Low-cost airlines, like the now-defunct Spirit Airlines, have fallen behind.
The shift has bolstered Kirby’s declaration that only two such full-service airlines exist. In his comments on Wednesday, however, he acknowledged that United lacks a domestic megahub like Atlanta or Dallas. Atlanta is home to Delta, and Dallas-Fort Worth to American.
That apparent recognition came up in an analyst’s question during American’s earnings call on Thursday.
“This business tells you to have a tough skin,” responded Nat Pieper, American’s chief commercial officer. “So you don’t count on compliments from many competitors over time.”