Air Traffic Control Airports Aviation Safety & Regulation Airport Infrastructure & Air Traffic Management Airlines United Airlines

O'Hare delays spike as pilots urged to refuse LAHSO clearances

Chicago O'Hare faced major operational disruption as 378 delays and 10 cancellations hit carriers including United, American, SkyWest and Spirit; the situation could worsen after pilots were advised to refuse LAHSO (land-and-hold-short) clearances on safety grounds, removing a key runway capacity tool.

Discovered 2026-02-16T15:03:20.013962-08:00 | 2026-02-16T15:03:20.013962-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

Immediate operational impact: 378 delays and 10 cancellations at ORD disrupted major carrier networks (United, American, SkyWest, Spirit); pilots refusing LAHSO strips a routine capacity lever and raises the risk of cascading delays and more cancellations.
Systemic context: this strains an already contested hub environment at O'Hare and adds to capacity pressure seen in recent airport disputes and schedule moves [source:4ac4f264-b0cc-4988-8ff6-7237cf2a82bc]. It also echoes prior incidents where ATC equipment or procedures forced wide delays and manual workarounds [source:b4900a9a-a308-41af-b8ba-d2bb1ecc3632].

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