Southwest Airlines to End Service at O’Hare and Dulles Airports

Citing challenging operating conditions, Southwest Airlines announced on March 13 that it will be ceasing service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, and Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.

The airline’s service to the two major airline hubs ends on June 4, Southwest said in a travel advisory. The Dallas, Texas-based carrier said it will continue to serve the Chicagoland region through its existing service through Chicago Midway International Airport, which is located roughly 30 miles away to the southeast in the residential Garfield Ridge area.

Service to the Washington, D.C., area, meanwhile, will continue through existing service at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.

Southwest said employees at both airports can bid for any open positions within its network, including jobs at Midway International, Baltimore Washington International, and Washington Reagan National.

“Southwest has a proud 41-year history at [Midway], and we remain committed to investing in the City of Chicago,” the airline said in a statement. “We are confident we can serve Chicagoland from our long-standing base at Midway where we will continue to offer service to more than 80 destinations, including the 15 markets we serve from O’Hare.”

“As the largest carrier in the Washington area in terms of passengers carried, Southwest is committed to serving this important market,” the airline added. “We will offer up to a combined 271 departures to 79 nonstop destinations from [Baltimore] and [Washington Reagan National].”

Southwest initiated service to O’Hare in February 2021 with 20 departures per day.

The pullback comes amid a push by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to limit flights to O’Hare—the nation’s busiest airport. In 2025, 857,392 planes took off or landed from O’Hare. Conversely, Midway had 210,930 takeoffs and departures.

In a Federal Register notice published March 16, the Federal Aviation Administration said it will reconvene a scheduling reduction meeting on March 19 to discuss proposed flight limits at O’Hare International Airport.

According to the FAA, scheduled daily operations of 3,080 flights on peak days this coming summer will exceed the airport’s capacity and tax its infrastructure, personnel, and air traffic control systems. Scheduled operations for summer 2025 were 2,680 operations per day, the FAA said.

The FAA said it wants a cap of 2,800 operations per day at O’Hare to circumvent operational disruptions and delays that were common in summer 2025, when slightly more than half of all arrivals and departures were up to 15 minutes late.

“[The] FAA believes that adding 400 flights to this already congested schedule will lead to inevitable delay and operational disruption despite the runway facilities and staffing available at the airport,” the administration said.