American Airlines asserts its place in Chicago amid United heat

Weeks after a defiant Robert Isom promised American Airlines wouldn’t back down from its Chicago O’Hare hub, the Fort Worth carrier is doubling down with a $30 million investment.

On Monday, Reuters reported a judge for the U.S. bankruptcy court in New York’s Southern District approved of American taking over two gates at O’Hare International Airport from Spirit Airlines, which is working through its second bankruptcy filing.

American operates its central hub at DFW International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the world.

The move indicates American is backing up its talk that it is committed to competing with United Airlines, its competitor at O’Hare. American and United account for a majority of the flights to and from O’Hare. This month, American offered more than 2.7 million seats, while United had over 3.8 million available seats, according to data from Diio by Cirium.

During its third-quarter earnings call, Isom declared nothing would stop the carrier from investing at O’Hare, including repeated shots from former colleague and now-CEO of United Scott Kirby.

“Chicago can support two hub carriers, it’s been doing it forever,” Isom said during the call. “American has served Chicago now for almost 100 years and we’re looking to serve it well into the future. It’s going to be our third-largest hub.”

Isom has previously said that subscriptions to American’s frequent flyer program, AAdvantage, increased by 20% year over year in the Chicago area.

Isom’s comments followed a setback for American when the airline lost gates and United gained more gates following a legal battle. After gaining the additional gates, United announced 10 new routes from O’Hare to destinations in California, Oregon, Utah and more. The carrier also announced new routes to markets in the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest.