Beginning Wednesday, United Airlines will operate out of five additional gates at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. American Airlines will lose four.

The shift in gates is the result of a “use it or lose it” provision in a lease agreement the airlines signed with the city in 2018. Under the agreement, gates at the airport are reallocated based on an airline’s flying frequency the previous year.

For weeks, the airlines have been engaged in a legal tug-of-war over the gates, with American filing suit against its rival airline and the city of Chicago, alleging that the reallocation process was initiated too early. But last week, a Cook County judge sided with the city, and the gate reshuffling is moving forward.

Air travelers likely won’t notice the gate shuffle, experts said. But the

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