The headline may make light of it, but the Federal Aviation Administration is serious: it has ordered a cut in take-offs and landings at Chicago’s O’Hare from May 17 to October 24.
The limit of 2,708 operations is a reaction to last summer when the airport was a hot mess, with too many flights causing rampant delays and cancelations, a situation that looked to be possibly even worse this summer, with United and American adding flight after flight in competition with each other.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told press that “Our number one priority is the safety of the flying public, and that means ensuring airline schedules reflect what the system can safely handle.”
O’Hare is the world’s busiest airport in terms of number of flight operations, but last summer that led to less than 60% of flights at the airport arriving or leaving on time.
