But They Want Others To Join

Both American Airlines and United say they're willing to support temporary caps on the number of flights they operate into and out of Chicago's O'Hare International -- but they don't want to be the only ones.

Together, the two airlines operate 88-percent of the flights at O'Hare. In documents released by the airlines on Monday, they both have asked for permission to trade arrival times.

But smaller airlines serving O'Hare say they're afraid the cuts will end up increasing both American's and United's dominance at the airport. The smaller operators say capping flights will allow American and United to dictate pricing and would reduce competition.

A total of 16 airlines attended three days of talks in Washington, aimed at easing the gate crunch at O'Hare. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta had said this was the airlines' last, best chance to formulate voluntary caps before the feds step in and do it themselves. It's not clear, however, how many or which of the other 14 airlines summoned to the summit have agreed to cut their schedules.

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