American Airlines ramps up pressure for level playing field at O'Hare Airport

American Airlines is keeping the pressure on Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to rethink the gate allocation plan he and Chicago aviation commissioner Ginger Evans announced last week that is tied to an US$8.5b O'Hare expansion. The plan as it now stands would award 5 of 8 gates in Terminal 2 at O'Hare to United Airlines. American has balked at that plan, saying a last-minute deal was cut between the city and United to award those 5 gates to United unilaterally with no input from American. To further buttress American's argument that a fair allocation of gates is key to American's long-term plan at O'Hare, American released a podcast about the "gate gap" that has caused the airport's two largest tenants, American and United, to start hurling invective at each other while city officials refuse to clarify exactly how they made the gate allocation. <br/>