Southwest is Now Flying Out of O’Hare International Airport

Travel insights from Andrea Sedlacek, editor of The Compass

Andrea Sedlacek Published February 22, 2021

As of Feb. 14, 2021, Southwest will be flying daily routes to and from O’Hare International Airport (ORD) from more than 100 cities, both domestic and international. Southwest is currently offering nonstop flights out of O’Hare to six cities: Nashville (BNA), Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Dallas (DAL), Denver (DEN), Orlando (MCO) and Phoenix (PHX).

Southwest will continue flying out of Chicago's Midway Airport (MDW), which according to reporting by the Chicago Tribune, will remain Southwest’s primary hub in the region and is just 19 miles south of O’Hare. The move into O’Hare is not meant to take travelers away from Midway and is actually meant to complement service there. When Southwest first announced their move into O’Hare in October 2020, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said, “Today's announcement furthers our commitment to both cities as we add service to share Southwest's value and Hospitality with more leisure and business travelers.”

This move now slates Southwest and United as direct competitors at O’Hare. Michael Leskinen, United’s VP of corporate development, said the company is not concerned about it. “As a network carrier in a hub… we have the higher ground,” he said.

Regardless of how the airlines themselves feel, travelers and travel advisors now have a new, exciting option at O’Hare.

About the Author

As the managing editor of The Compass on VAX, Andrea is dedicated to delivering valuable, fun and grammatically correct content to her readers (without Oxford commas). Her experience writing and editing in the retail and insurance industries made the move to travel one of the most exciting things to happen in her career. What's the next most-exciting thing for her? Whenever the newest edition of the AP Stylebook comes out.

Follow Andrea on Twitter: @SedlacekAndrea