United Preps for Re-Banking Chicago Hub, Reducing Departures & Increasing Gauge

United is preparing to begin its re-banking process in Chicago, which will result in operations changes and potentially tighter connections for flyers.

After successful re-banking in Denver and Houston, United Airlines is set to begin the same process at its main hub. Air Transport World reports the legacy airline will begin the re-banking process this month at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).

Turning away from the previous trend of un-banking hubs at the turn of the millennium, United announced the re-banking strategy last year with the hopes of increasing operational efficiency and profitability. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, this process will include optimizing flight operations and reducing the use of smaller planes at ORD.

United anticipates an 8 percent reduction in its total number of departures from ORD during some periods and a 10 percent increase the size of aircraft servicing the airport. The result is an expected increase in capacity by up to 2.5 percent this year. However, with the number of departures decreasing, flyers could potentially face narrower connection times while flying through the hub.

“Re-banking allows us to shorten our connection times as well as improve directional flows in many of our hubs,” said United CFO John Rainey. “We are pleased with the results we’ve seen already in the re-banking of Houston and Denver, and that is something we can see pretty quickly, but a lot of the changes we are making to our network are simply pieces of a puzzle.”

United’s re-banking process at ORD is part of a larger shift by legacy carriers across the U.S. In January, following the successful re-banking of its Miami hub at the end of 2015, American Airlines announced plans to re-bank its hubs at ORD and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

[Photo: United Airlines]