Court documents filed last week reveal that American is seeking a preliminary injunction against the City of Chicago to halt a contentious gate redetermination at O’Hare International Airport, scheduled for October 1, 2025.
The airline’s legal team filed the motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, arguing that the planned gate space reallocation violates provisions in the Airline Use and Lease Agreement (AULA) between American and the city.
According to the filing, American claims it “will suffer irreparable harm from the Gate Redetermination, which will reduce American’s gate share at O’Hare.” The airline further contends this reduction would “undermine American’s competitive position, erode customer goodwill, disrupt its operational efficiency, and necessitate significant changes to its business model.”
The motion specifically requests that the court prohibit the defendants — the City of Chicago and Michael P. McMurray, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation — from initiating the next redetermination of gate space at O’Hare until at least April 1, 2027.
In May, American sued the City of Chicago over the allocation of gate space at the airport. The legal action, filed in a federal court in Illinois, centers on a dispute over the premature redetermination of gate assignments that American claims violates the terms of the Airline Use and Lease Agreement (AULA).
