The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to meet with United Airlines and American Airlines to discuss capping the number of flights at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago this summer. According to the agency, major airlines have too many flights at the airport, and cutting the number should reduce delays and cancellations. In a filing with the Federal Register, the agency said a proposed increase in flights “is significant and would stress the runway, terminal and air traffic control systems at the airport.” 

A total of 3,080 daily flights is scheduled this summer. That’s 400 more flights per day than last summer, when there were 2,680 flights per day. The FAA wants to limit daily operations this summer to approximately 2,800 flights per day.

There has been an ongoing competition at O’Hare between United and American over gate space. Under the current lease at O’Hare, gates are allocated to airlines based on the number of flights an airline has scheduled in the previous year. Both airlines have been trying to schedule as many flights as possible to win more passengers and consequently win more gates.