Southwest is withdrawing from Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles on June 4 after five years of underperformance

Southwest Airlines will end all flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport on June 4, 2026, consolidating its Chicago-area service entirely at Chicago Midway International Airport, where it has operated for 41 years.

Southwest began flying to O'Hare in 2021 as part of an 18-city expansion during the Covid-19 pandemic but the growth did not meet expectations, leading to dramatic flight cuts before the full exit. At Dulles, service stagnated after Southwest expanded its presence at Reagan National in 2012 and maintained its large base at Baltimore/Washington International.

The exits are part of a broader network overhaul under CEO Bob Jordan that has included the introduction of assigned seating, bag fees and basic economy fares — changes intended to generate more than $1 billion in incremental annual revenue. Cutting underperforming airport operations is the cost discipline side of the same strategy.

Southwest's Midway operation will offer up to 244 daily departures connecting passengers to more than 80 nonstop destinations. The airline confirmed that all 15 markets it currently serves from O'Hare will remain accessible from Midway.

Passengers with bookings at O'Hare or Dulles on or after June 4 can rebook to nearby alternate airports within 14 days of their original travel date at no change in airfare, or request a full refund including optional fees.

The move opens Southwest's O'Hare gates to American and United, both of which have been aggressively expanding at the airport under its use-it-or-lose-it gate allocation policy.