United is again building up operations in its hometown ahead of the spring and summer.
The carrier said Tuesday that it will add nonstop service from Chicago O’Hare to Champaign/Urbana, Illinois; Kalamazoo, Michigan; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Lansing, Michigan; and Bloomington/Normal, Illinois.
Service to Champaign/Urbana and Kalamazoo will start April 30, while service to La Crosse, Lansing, and Bloomington/Normal will commence May 7.
Each new connection will operate four times daily, airline officials said.
United also plans to add flights on over 80 existing routes from Chicago. The carrier did not name them all but said destinations such as Boston, Nashville, Tennessee, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Dallas/Fort Worth are included.
The airline also plans to connect Chicago with Guadalajara, Mexico, between June 8 and 27 to help fans attend soccer games during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The temporary service to Guadalajara will operate daily.
With these additions, United expects to operate up to 750 flights per day from Chicago O’Hare this summer. The carrier’s Chicago hub will become the third-largest hub operated by any airline in the U.S., executives said.
“We have spent the past decade building and executing a strategy that is focused on winning brand loyal customers by giving them more value when they fly United – and nowhere is that more apparent than in Chicago,” Omar Idris, United’s vice president for Chicago O’Hare, said in a statement. “This growth at O’Hare highlights our commitment to invest in our network, customers, and hiring in the city we call home.”
United is also in the process of adding new destinations from Chicago announced late last year, including Santa Barbara, California; Eugene, Oregon; Monterey, California; Bristol/Tri-Cities, Tennessee; Erie, Pennsylvania; Rochester, Minnesota; Wausau, Wisconsin; and Marquette, Michigan.
