A federal judge has sided with United and the City of Chicago in their dispute with American over gate allocations at Chicago O'Hare.
American sued the Chicago Department of Aviation in an Illinois circuit court this summer, asking for an injunction to block the city's plan to allocate five more gates to United and take away four of American's gates, effective in October. The case was originally brought by American in May, but in federal court.
Under O'Hare's formula, gate access is redistributed based on how much each carrier utilized their gates during the previous calendar year. The changes would take effect in October.
United and American both hub at O'Hare, but United, which is headquartered in Chicago, is bigger there and built back from the pandemic much quicker at O'Hare than Dallas-based American, increasing its annual seat count lead at the airport between 2019 and 2024 from 9.3 million to 13 million.
American, though surged in O'Hare this year, growing its seat offering by 22% year-over-year this summer, the airline said.
The new gates will position United to increase its lead at the airport.
In the lawsuit, American contended that Chicago, at the request of United, began the gate redetermination process prematurely and in violation of a lease agreement that the Department of Aviation negotiated with airlines in 2018 to lay the groundwork for an O'Hare expansion.
During those 2018 negotiations, American declined to sign on until the city agreed to expedite the construction of three common-use gates in the airport's L Concourse, next to gates American already operates. The last of those so-called L-Stinger gates became operational on March 14.
American contends that it signed onto the 2018 lease agreement after extracting a commitment from the city that it would have 12 months to ramp up its gate usage after all the new L-Stinger gates became operational. Only then could the Department of Aviation conduct a usage assessment.
In a Sept. 25 order, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus Wilson dismissed that argument, saying that the lease agreement between the aviation department and airlines did not require every future gate to be operational before the ramp-up and assessment period commenced.
American, he added, also lacks a contractual right to the L-Stinger gates at issue, even though there was informal understanding between the department and American.
United president Brett Hart celebrated the decision in a letter to the airline's O'Hare staff.
"This decision is more than a legal victory," he said. "It is a powerful validation of United's growth, investment and incredible workforce here in our hometown of Chicago."
American said it will remain strong at O'Hare.
"The premature trigger of the gate reallocation will give one airline a competitive advantage from the start," the carrier said in statement. "But we remain committed to Chicago and to preserving competition at [O'Hare] to ensure that local travelers -- as well as those who connect at [the airport] from throughout our global network -- will continue to benefit from lower fares and more choices that come from two competing carriers, which makes the city a more attractive place for tourism, business development and global events."