Passengers could face even longer delays when traveling through Chicago O’Hare (ORD) after thousands of pilots were told to refuse a special time-saving trick to speed up operations at what has become the busiest airport in the United States, as measured by the number of takeoffs and landings.
Unfortunately, Chicago O’Hare is already one of the poorest performing major airports in the U.S. for on-time departures, with an on-time rate of around 65% based on data from BTS/Cirium.
On-time performance could, however, get even worse over the course of 2026 after safety concerns were raised about the way that Chicago O’Hare uses an FAA-approved technique to make the most efficient use of available runway and taxiway space.
At the center of an issue is a procedure used at a slew of airports across the United States, which is called LAHSO – Land and Hold Short Operation.
The basic principle behind LAHSO is that pilots coming into land agree to a stop at a pre-defined point on the runway, which is usually shorter than the full length of the runway.
That pre-defined point is known as the LAHSO hold-short point, and it’s often positioned before an intersecting runway or taxiway that is being used for ground operations. When a pilot agrees to LAHSO, air traffic control can then keep operations moving on the intersecting runway or taxiway.
LAHSO has been in use for decades, although there are very strict criteria that control when this procedure can be used. Perhaps most importantly, while air traffic control can request that a pilot ‘holds short’ the final decision rests with the aircraft commander.
At Chicago O’Hare, two major pilot unions have raised concerns about unusual or difficult-to-identify hold-short points in use at the airport, which have caused pilots in the past to ‘bust’ past the hold-short line.
These unions – the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the Allied Pilots Association (APA) – represent thousands of aircrew at some of the biggest airlines in the United States, including Alaska Airlines, Delta, Frontier, Spirit, JetBlue, and United, in the case of ALPA and American Airlines for APA.
Last week, APA told its members that it “highly recommends” that its members not accept LAHSO clearance at Chicago O’Hare, mimicking a similar request by ALPA.
Again, pilots get to make the final decision, but the advice from both of these unions is very clear.
And it’s not just Chicago O’Hare that is covered by this advisory. Similar concerns have also been raised about the LAHSO points at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport, although the impact this could have on delays is less clear.
