American Airlines Will Resume Its Longest Domestic Route, Challenging United Airlines
American Airlines will resume its nonstop service between Chicago and Honolulu, marking the resumption of its longest domestic route and challenging United Airlines on a route it currently operates without competition.
American Airlines Resumes Chicago – Honolulu Service In October 2025
While American Airlines has operated nonstop service between its hub in Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu (HNL) in the past, it has been nearly four years. The service ran before the pandemic, was temporarily paused, resumed, but then suspended again in September 2021.
The service will launch on October 26, 2025 and operate daily utilizing a Boeing 787-8 aircraft with:
- 20 business class seats
- 28 premium economy seats
- 186 economy class seats
(this is AA’s leisure-focused aircraft with a much smaller number of business class seats than the 787-9, which has 30 seats in business class)
The flight is not yet for sale and the schedule has not yet been published, but the flight previously left Chicago in the morning and departed Honolulu in the evening.
United Airlines flies the same route daily using a Boeing 787-10 jet.
The resumption of the Honolulu route is one of many new routes from Chicago O’Hare in 2025, both domestic and international, including:
| City | Start date | Aircraft Type |
|---|---|---|
| Bismarck, North Dakota (BIS) | June 5, 2025 | Embraer 175 |
| Boise, Idaho (BOI) | June 5, 2025 | E175 |
| Colorado Springs, Colorado (COS) | June 5, 2025 | Bombardier CRJ700 |
| Halifax, Canada (YHZ) | June 21, 2025 | E175 |
| Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL) | Oct. 26, 2025 | Boeing 787-8 |
| Hyannis, Massachusetts (HYA) | June 21, 2025 | E175 |
| Madrid, Spain (MAD) | March 30, 2025 | 787-8 |
| Naples, Italy (NAP) | May 6, 2025 | 787-8 |
| Spokane, Washington (GEG) | June 5, 2025 | E175 |
Ben Humphrey, American’s Vice President of ORD Operations, said:
“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. Strengthening our network is a promise to our customers that we’ll continue to provide exceptional service to the places they want to go. And it reinforces to our partners and stakeholders that we’ll be an economic driver for the region well into the future — all powered by our Chicago team members who are the best at putting our customers first.”
While United has also grown at Chicago O’Hare, American Airlines will not have competition on its Madrid or Naples longhaul routes.