“Operating at Chicago O’Hare continues to be challenging,” according to a Southwest Airlines spokesperson in a Friday statement, “and we are confident we can serve Chicagoland through our strongly-held position at Chicago Midway.”

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday it would reduce air traffic by 10% across “high-volume” markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers go unpaid and exhibit signs of strain during the shutdown.

The dispute highlights the remarkable push by the Department of Homeland Security to insert a political message into the airport security experience that virtually every air traveler must go through.

The federal government shutdown has entered its second week, and already shortages of air traffic controllers have strained operations and disrupted flights at some U.S. airports.

The busiest day for O’Hare and Midway airports is expected to be Friday, with O’Hare seeing nearly 285,000 passengers and Midway seeing nearly 58,000 passengers, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation

President Donald Trump’s so-called “big beautiful bill” pledges to fill those gaps, setting aside $12.5 billion to modernize the air traffic control system.

The Transportation Security Administration is looking to abandon the additional security step that has for years bedeviled anyone passing through U.S airports, according to media reports.

The busiest day at O’Hare is expected to be Sunday, with 300,000 passengers passing through the airport, a nearly 40% surge from the airport’s daily average, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Southwest Airlines has put a price tag on checking bags, a coveted free perk that is about to disappear as part of substantial changes the carrier is making to its service.

More than 3.3 million travelers are projected to pass through the airports between Thursday and March 31, a 4% increase from the same period last year, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Southwest Flight 2504 landed safely at the Chicago airport after the flight crew had to perform a go-around to prevent a potential incident, according to Southwest. The FAA is investigating the incident, which took place at around 8:50 a.m. local time.

Nearly 1.5 million travelers are expected to pass through O’Hare — an 11% increase in passenger traffic compared to last year, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Sunday is expected to be the busiest travel day for the city’s airports.

The lounge will be accessible to travelers who buy an airport lounge membership or day pass. It is expected to open next fall. 

Photographer Thomas Sanders has made it his life’s mission to share the stories of veterans across the country. His work is currently on display in “American Heroes: Portraits of Service.”

There are also mounting requests to more aggressively and comprehensively address the air travel system’s bottlenecks, including obsolete technology and staffing issues.

DaJuan Martin, 36, was charged in Chicago’s federal court Monday with 12 counts of wire fraud stemming from the alleged fraud scheme. A second man, 46-year-old Ned Brooks, was also charged with four counts of wire fraud after he allegedly purchased several of these fraudulent vouchers.