BANGOR – Bangor International Airport officials have been trying for years to establish a direct connection to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

It would be a move they believe would improve connection options for travelers.

Plans announced this week to reduce peak hour arrivals at O’Hare, however, suggest that the direct link Bangor is seeking might not come about anytime soon.

BIA wants to add the Chicago airport to its list of destinations because of the Midwestern hub’s connections to Western U.S. destinations such as Los Angeles, Tucson, Ariz., and Spokane, Wash.

“It’s going to be really hard now – almost impossible – but we’re not going to stop knocking on doors,” BIA aviation and forecasting consultant Michael Boyd said in a telephone interview Thursday.

“This slows everything down, but we’re going to keep on trying,” said Boyd, president of the Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colo.

BIA’s assistant director, Tony Caruso, agreed.

“It really does affect us,” he said. “I think that, for now, we’ll be watching this to see how this plays out.”

On Wednesday, top officials from the Federal Aviation Administration announced a reduction in peak hour arrivals aimed at easing congestion and decreasing delays at O’Hare, the nation’s busiest airport, based on arrivals and departures.

The bottlenecks at the Chicago airport have been blamed for a domino effect resulting in flight delays throughout the United States.

The FAA on Wednesday announced an agreement with domestic carriers that would reduce the number of arrivals during peak hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

American and United, which combined handle nearly 90 percent of flights at the Chicago airport, had already agreed to flight reductions earlier this year. They offered to support the new temporary cuts, but they wanted other carriers to make schedule cuts as well.

Under the new agreement, domestic airlines agreed to a goal of 88 arrivals during peak hours. United would reduce its peak arrivals by 20. American, which provides nonstop regional jet service to Boston and New York out of BIA through its associate American Eagle, would cut its O’Hare arrivals by 17.

The agreement, effective Nov. 1 through the end of next April, also affects smaller airlines, though to a lesser extent.

As Boyd sees it, part of the problem at O’Hare could be blamed on its outdated traffic control system. He said the larger problem is incompetence at the federal level.

“Because of the FAA’s incompetence, Bangor now is going to have to work even harder.”