ALERT: Chicago and Upper Midwest- Snowstorm Causing Flight Issues (February 9, 2018)
February 9, 2018
Chicago is undergoing the effects of a severe winter storm, including numerous canceled and delayed flights at O’Hare and Midway airports.
According to the Chicago Tribune:
As much as 5 inches had fallen by 7 a.m., causing dozens of crashes on area expressways and canceling more than 800 flights at O’Hare and Midway airports. School officials in Chicago and across the area, faced with an early forecast of more than a foot of snow, canceled classes for the day. Hundreds of schools are closed.
A winter storm warning remains in effect until noon, nine hours earlier than when it was first issued on Thursday. The weather service said 3 to 6 inches more snow was expected through the morning.
USA Today provided updates for the situation yesterday and today:
FRIDAY’S UPDATE: Airlines were canceling flights and waiving changes fees Friday as a winter storm brought heavy snow to airports in the Midwest and Great Lakes. Nationwide, more than 1,000 flights had been canceled and another 200 delayed as of 7:20 a.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
THURSDAY’S UPDATE: Flying on Friday? Brace for another round of winter-weather disruptions.
Airlines were already canceling flights for Friday ahead of a winter storm that’s forecast to dump up to a foot of snow across the Midwest, including in Chicago and its busy air-travel hubs. Most big carriers also were waiving rebooking fees for fliers ticketed through Chicago and at airports across the Great Lakes region.
Nationwide, about 925 flights had already been canceled, flight-tracking service FlightAware showed as of 10:15 p.m. ET on Thursday. The bulk of those came at Chicago’s two major airports: O’Hare is a hub for both American and United while Midway is one of the busiest bases for Southwest. At Detroit — a hub for Delta — about 15% of Friday’s flight schedule had been preemptively canceled.
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