On October 26th, 2025, American Airlines will resume offering flights between Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.
This announcement was the highlight of American’s greater commitment to Chicago. They also announced they will be bringing an additional 9 routes to the airport in 2025.
With the addition of Honolulu, American will begin flying to Naples and Madrid. These route additions will increase the use of American’s widebody fleet from Chicago.
The Honolulu route pairing will be flown on their Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Ben Humphrey, American Airlines Vice President of Operations at O’Hare commented ““O’Hare has always been a vital hub for American, connecting the Midwest to our global network and bringing travelers from across the world to Chicago for business and pleasure,”.
Chicago – Honolulu was a route flown before by American Airlines, who had to pause the route. The pause was thanks to the combination of service reduction out of Chicago due to the pandemic, the slow rollout of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners by Boeing, and American losing money on the route previously.
This time around, by having more Dreamliners in their fleet and more premium seat offerings, American expects to hit profitability on the route.
It is also worth noting that this route pairing will become the longest domestic flight offered by American.
What Does This Mean For American Airlines and its Customers?
Renewed Competition Between American Airlines and United Airlines in Chicago
American Airlines and United Airlines both use Chicago O’Hare as their midwest hub.United owned a 40% market share at the airport while American had 22% in 2024. United flies considerably more international flights from O’Hare than American. United is likely the go-to airline for international travel out of Chicago. With travel back to pre-pandemic levels, American saw an opportunity to increase its widebody service out of Chicago to better compete with United.
American only offers international flights to Europe from Chicago. They rely primarily on Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York – JFK and Miami for their bulk of flights to Asia.
Although service to Hawaii isn’t considered international, the route can be a test bed to see if long distance international flights can be a thing for American out of Chicago.
If they are able to break profitability on the Hawaii route, they may look to challenge United on several of their Asia routes from Chicago.
More Options for Travelers Heading to Hawaii
Before American’s announcement, the only airline offering flights between Chicago and Honolulu was United Airlines. With American now getting back into the fray, customers will have another option. Competition is always a good thing as it forces airlines to offer the best quality service on routes.
United is flying year round, twice daily flights to Honolulu. If American wants to match United, they need to offer the same amount of service. This means the overall amount of service on this route pairing will likely double, meaning more seats available for customers to purchase.
O’Hare is the one of more utilized airports in the region. Chicago is a large major city, so there will definitely be demand for nonstop flights to Hawaii. Especially for Chicagoans looking to beat the cold weather.
Sources
https://www.travelandleisure.com/american-airlines-chicago-honolulu-11683485
