Air Service One talks with, Angie Kocerka, Deputy Commissioner of Marketing, Partnerships & Air Service Development, Chicago Department of Aviation

Handling more than 100 million passengers annually across its two major airports, Chicago continues to rank among the world’s most significant hubs, with O’Hare International Airport at the centre of its global connectivity and operational scale. As airlines expand networks, long-haul demand evolves and infrastructure projects gather pace, the city is positioning itself to sustain growth and strengthen its competitive standing among North America’s leading gateways. Angie Kocerka, Deputy Commissioner of Marketing, Partnerships & Air Service Development, spoke to Air Service One about the market environment, airline partnerships, new international opportunities and major capital programmes.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Midway International handled a combined total of over 100 million passengers in 2025. What are the current estimates for passenger growth in 2026, and do you expect for O’Hare to keep the title as the busiest in the world?

We are proud that O’Hare has reclaimed its position as the busiest airfield in the world. In 2025, O’Hare recorded more than 860,000 aircraft operations, that’s a 10.8% increase over 2024, meaning a take-off or landing happened every 37 seconds. This achievement reaffirms Chicago’s role as a global hub for commerce, travel, and connectivity. Based on activity through the first quarter of this year, we are hopeful that O’Hare will retain the busiest title for aircraft movements in 2026.

This success also reflects decades of strategic investment. Over the past two decades, the City of Chicago, in close partnership with its airline stakeholders and federal partners, has invested more than $6 billion to modernize O’Hare’s airfield. This historic effort created a comprehensive eight-runway system, allowing O’Hare to safely and efficiently support more flight operations than any other airport in the world.

Which markets, domestic or international, are currently driving growth the most?

In 2025, we saw stronger growth in domestic markets as United and American continued to expand their nonstop domestic route networks from O’Hare. Domestic passenger volume was up 6.8% while international passenger volume was up 2.3%.

With United maintaining a leading position in terms of departures and network breadth, while American continues to rebuild and expand its presence, how does O’Hare balance the needs of both carriers while ensuring competitive growth?

Our current airport airline use and lease agreement is designed to promote use of facilities and support growth. We work closely with all of our carriers, including United and American, to deliver the infrastructure needed to facilitate current and future demand. Competition between carriers benefits our passengers by providing increased nonstop service at competitive fares and supports the local economy.

Internationally, are you seeing a shift in demand patterns, particularly between transatlantic, Latin American and Asia-Pacific markets, and how is Chicago positioning itself to capture new long-haul opportunities?

We have seen growth in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East markets in the post-COVID 19 period, comparing June 2026 with June 2019 prior to COVID.

• Latin America departing seats increased by nearly 50%
  • Volaris to Mexico (new Midway-San Luis Potosi service starts in June 2026)
  • Entry of VivaAerobus at O’Hare
  • Avianca new services to Guatemala City, Bogota and San Salvador.
  • American has restored Mexico City service and increased services to Los Cabos and Cancun.
• Europe departing seats have increased by 9%
  • United nonstop destinations increased to 15 destinations from June 2019 to June 2026.
  • United’s new destinations include Athens, Barcelona, Keflavik (Reykjavik), Milan, Shannon and Zurich.
  • American service to Naples (will resume on May 7, 2026), and Madrid (restarted March 7, 2026)
• Middle East departing seats increased by 8%
  • Etihad is adding a new second daily ORD – Abu Dhabi departure in June 2026.
  • Royal Jordanian added frequencies to its existing ORD – Amman service.
• Asia-Pacific is a target for additional growth.
  • Japan Airlines began a new daily service between ORD and Tokyo-Narita last year.
  • New Philippine Airlines service to Manila will be added later this year.
  • Due to current limitations in the China market, Cathay Pacific’s daily ORD – Hong Kong passenger service, which was recently upgauged to a larger aircraft in April 2026, is the only service to China.

With ongoing expansion and modernisation projects under the O’Hare 21 programme, how do you see infrastructure enabling future route growth, particularly for long-haul and high-capacity aircraft?

ORDNext is our historic terminal expansion project which will enhance the passenger experience, improve connections between domestic and international flights, and accommodate future growth for O’Hare. ORDNext includes four main projects:

• The O’Hare Global Terminal (OGT) will double the current size of Terminal 2 and become the future central hub to allow for seamless domestic and international connections.
• The New Concourse D will feature 19 new flexible gates to accommodate a variety of aircraft and will ultimately serve both international and domestic passengers.  Construction on Concourse D is underway and will be completed at the end of 2028.
• The New Concourse E will add 24 gates serving primarily domestic operations and maintain a high-quality passenger experience as demand grows. And a Consolidated Tunnel that will connect these facilities seamlessly.

With carriers like Southwest Airlines maintaining a strong presence at Midway, how important is the airport in supporting point-to-point and leisure traffic compared to O’Hare’s hub-and-spoke model?

Midway Airport complements O’Hare’s dual-hub, providing travellers additional convenience, choice, and competitive fares. Southwest Airlines continues to be an important airline partner, representing approximately 93% of the airport’s scheduled departing seats for June 2026. At the same time, Midway has continued to diversify and expand its air service in recent years with the addition of Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines.

 What are the key target markets Chicago is actively pursuing, and which regions or routes do you believe hold the greatest potential for future growth?

O’Hare International Airport has been named the most-connected airport in the United States by Official Aviation Guide (OAG) for multiple years, and we are focused on building on that momentum by pursuing the largest unserved and underserved markets to bring new and exciting destinations to our passengers. Our Air Service Development team follows a multi-year strategy that evaluates opportunities across key global regions, including Asia/Pacific, Canada, the Caribbean/Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East/Africa. We also place strong value on feedback from prospective airline partners, along with priorities expressed by business and leisure travellers, when shaping our target markets and future growth strategy. In 2025, the team had over 120 meetings with potential and existing carriers.

How would you summarise Chicago’s competitive positioning among major North American hubs when it comes to attracting new airlines and routes in an increasingly competitive global aviation landscape?

As Choose Chicago likes to say, Chicago is “Never Done and Never Outdone,” and that spirit is reflected in our standing among major North American hub airports. Chicago has one of America’s most diversified economy, creating resilience across market cycles and a broad customer base that drives air travel demand. O’Hare International Airport was again named the most-connected airport in the United States in Official Aviation Guide’s 2025 Megahubs Index, while Chicago Midway International Airport ranked 22nd nationally for domestic connectivity, just behind John F. Kennedy International Airport. In April 2026, O’Hare also reclaimed its position as the busiest airfield in the world, according to Airports Council International World.