The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
United CEO Blames FAA For O’Hare’s Notorious Taxi Times, Says It's Like "Driving To Milwaukee"
Departing flights can require as long as half an hour for their taxi time.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has attributed long taxi times at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to what he describes as understaffing at the Federal Aviation Administration. He argues that returning the airport’s air traffic control towers to full staffing levels could reduce taxi durations by several minutes per movement.
Kirby’s comments focus on ORD as a hub where taxi durations have grown lengthy. He notes that the issue is structural and tied to air traffic control capacity rather than individual flight operations.
The CEO suggests marginal gains from improved ATC staffing would accumulate across many departures, potentially easing congestion when flights depart from ORD. He frames the situation as a broad inefficiency impacting taxi times rather than a single incident.
According to Kirby, departing flights at ORD can experience taxi times of up to about 30 minutes. He ties these extended taxi times to the broader capacity constraints of the ATC system serving the airport.