Southwest Airlines has announced that all flights servicing two major airports will be canceled in just a few months, including at one of the world’s busiest.
The airports affected are Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, according to Aerospace Global News.
All Southwest flights in and out of O’Hare will be canceled beginning June 4, according to emails sent to booked passengers, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
Southwest will also cease flights to Washington’s Dulles this summer, the ABC affiliate in the nation’s capital reported, an airline spokesman saying the decision was part of broader network changes.
The carrier has offered affected customers the ability to rebook onto Southwest Airlines flights from nearby airports or request a refund.
A representative for Southwest told the Daily Mail the discontinuation was part of “ongoing efforts to refine its network” and that operating out of busy O’Hare was “challenging.”
Southwest indicated it still will serve both the Chicago and D.C. metro areas via Chicago’s Midway Airport and the Washington International and Reagan National airports.
The airline has only been operating out of O’Hare since 2021 — the nation’s busiest in 2025 — but has served Midway on the city’s southwest side for more than four decades, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
“We are confident we can serve Chicagoland through Chicago Midway, where we will continue to offer service to more than 80 destinations, including the 15 markets we serve from O’Hare,” the airline said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met with American Airlines and United Airlines recently to address heavy air traffic in and out of O’Hare. The FAA reported this summer season is on pace to be extremely busy, with a total of 3,080 daily flights scheduled there, versus the 2,680 last summer season, CBS reported.
It is unclear if the push for fewer flights contributed to Southwest’s decision.
As for Washington’s Dulles, service there began in 2006, with the airline offering flights to a variety of destinations. But recently, it only serves three flights daily, two to Denver and one to Phoenix, according to Aerospace Global News.
Southwest will continue to provide 271 flights and 79 non-stop destinations from Washington-area airports, according to the Daily Mail.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority told ABC it was disappointed to see the airline pull out of Dulles.
“We hope Southwest will return to Dulles in the future,” it said in a statement.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
