Dense fog wreaked havoc on travelers inside Chicago’s two international airports — O’Hare and Midway — early Christmas Eve, as more than 50 flights were grounded, leaving travelers stranded for the holiday.
On Sunday, the National Weather Service issued a dense fog advisory for the entire Chicago area that initially ended at 9 a.m., but was later extended to 12 noon as the dense fog lingered.
At Midway alone, there have been about 50 cancellations so far, with delays increasing as the FAA issued a ground stop until 10:30 a.m., after travel was delayed late Saturday night.
Meanwhile, O’Hare airport reported only 15 canceled flights with minimal delays.
A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines told Fox News Digital that they are working with the traveler and working to resolve the situation.
Travelers checked in for their flights at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where there were only 15 canceled flights with minimal delays. AFP via Getty Images
“We are working with our customers whose travel was affected by the fog at Chicago Midway that began Saturday night and prevented incoming planes from landing, forcing several diversions and cancellations of subsequent flights.
“With visibility remaining below the operational minimum required overnight and continuing this morning, we have modified the start planned for today (Sunday) at Chicago Midway.” Southwest Airlines said. “We have all hands on deck as our employees work to quickly take care of our customers and place them on alternative flights.”
Southwest Airlines added that Chicago Midway is their fourth-busiest airport operation, with more than 200 daily departures scheduled over the holiday weekend.
“Due to the fog at Midway, we canceled approximately 70 flights for Sunday (less than 1% of our system-wide total of 4242 flights), most of which originated and were morning flights from Midway. We are currently operating the remainder of our schedule, but we continue to experience cancellations and delays as our operations recover,” Southwest said.
In addition to the weather delay, a user on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted that pro-Palestinian protesters had blocked the entrance to O’Hare Airport early Christmas morning.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
