Tag Archives: O’Hare Airport

More than 500 flights canceled as snow falls across Chicago

(CHICAGO) More than 500 flights have been canceled as Chicago prepares for up to 4 inches of snow by Monday afternoon.

As of 6 a.m. Monday, 411 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport and 98 flights had been canceled at Midway International Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Delays at O’Hare were averaging about 31 minutes, while delays at Midway were less than 15 minutes.

Snow started falling at O’Hare about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, but less than an inch had accumulated by 1 a.m. Monday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Donofrio. By 5:45 a.m., 2 inches of snow had fallen in north suburban Evanston and northwest suburban Woodstock.

A winter weather advisory was in effect until 1 p.m. Monday, with between 2 and 4 inches of snow accumulations expected in Lake, DuPage and Cook counties. Visibility will be reduced during periods of heavy snowfall and could make for difficult driving conditions, the weather service warned.

“The intensity of the snow will vary from time to time until (Monday) morning,” said meteorologist Gino Izzi. “It seems pretty likely we’ll be experiencing snow during rush hour, so I would plan on a longer than usual commute.”

Izzi said this will be the first time Chicago has recorded at least 1 inch of snow since Dec. 17, 2016, marking the city’s longest streak without snow ever recorded during the winter.

Lake effect snow could then develop Monday evening and continue overnight into Tuesday, adding to snowfall accumulations, the weather service said. Lake effect snow, which can produce very heavy snowfall, sometimes in excess of 2 inches per hour, could continue periodically through Tuesday afternoon.

Temperatures were expected to reach a high of about 30 degrees on Monday, the weather service said. The chance of snow was about 100 percent on Monday, with wind gusts as high as 20 mph. A high near 27 degrees was expected Tuesday, with an 80 percent chance of snow.

The city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation deployed 287 snow plows overnight to tackle the snowy weather. The plows focus on salting and plowing arterial routes to ensure the roads are safe before moving to neighborhood streets, if necessary.

While Chicago braced for its first snowfall in months, larger snowstorms were expected on the East Coast. A blizzard watch was issued for the Boston area, with 12 to 18 inches of snow expected to fall over eastern Massachusetts as well as central and southern Rhode Island, according to the weather service.

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O’Hare night runway plan to end on Christmas, despite pleas

(CHICAGO) City aviation officials said Wednesday that O’Hare Airport will end a six-month test of a new night runway rotation plan on Christmas morning, as originally scheduled, despite pleas by Schiller Park and Harwood Heights to extend it, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Mayors of both suburban towns east of the airport said the temporary plan to better distribute night jet noise has lessened the heavy overnight air traffic their communities shouldered after a dramatic change in O’Hare flight plans in 2013.

As a result, they said, they would like to see it continue while test results are being analyzed. The plan, launched July 6, rotates night runways every week, on a 12-week schedule, and alternates between diagonal “cross wind” runways and parallel “east-west” runways.

“Schiller Park got some relief from this and I hate to see it end,” Schiller Park Mayor Barbara Piltaver told fellow members of the Ad Hoc Fly Quiet committee of the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission.

The plan has reduced the night burden on Schiller Park, Harwood Heights and portions of Chicago to the east of O’Hare, as well as Bensenville and Wood Dale to the west. All are affected by O’Hare’s growing stable of east-west parallel runways. However, other suburbs, like Des Plaines, have been howling about the plan’s increased night use of diagonal runways.

Aaron Frame, of the Chicago Department of Aviation, said “chances are” running the test longer than the six months planned would trigger an environmental analysis that could last anywhere from months to a year. He cited a July 1, 2016, letter from the Federal Aviation Administration stating that “continuing the rotation plan beyond the test would be subject to future environmental review.”

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro told the Sun-Times on Wednesday that the FAA “would consider” any city request for an extension but could not speculate on what its response would be.

Even so, Frame said the Aviation Department will end the test early Christmas morning, as planned, take the month of January to analyze the results, and then present its findings to the the Fly Quiet Committee and the Noise Commission for discussion and possible tweaking, approval or rejection.

Karen Robles of Schaumburg, a community affected by heavier night use of a diagonal runway due for demolition in 2018, favored that idea. She said there are some “tweaks many of us would like to evaluate” after the test ends and its results are thoroughly analyzed.

Mayor Craig Johnson of Elk Grove Village said later he also favors ending the plan on schedule, going back to pre-rotation night flights temporarily, and then coming up with a new six-month plan that uses the diagonal runway aimed at his village and Schaumburg less frequently.

Currently, Johnson said, Elk Grove Village carries a “disproportionate share” of night traffic and is affected in nine out of 12 weeks in the rotation.

“You shouldn’t have nine out of 12 weeks, flights going over some communities,” Johnson said.

Wednesday’s discussion indicated the Chicago area could see many changes in night flights as officials wrestle with how to proceed. But in addition, even daytime flight paths could well change again in 2019, after a diagonal runway closes; in 2020, after a new east-west parallel runway opens in the north airfield; and in 2021, when an existing parallel runway in the north airfield is due to be lengthened.

— Chicago Sun-Times

Changes to O’Hare bus service start Friday for roadway construction

(CHICAGO) Buses at O’Hare Airport will have to use different pickup and dropoff locations starting Friday as crews begin a long-term construction project on the upper level terminal core roadway.

The project will repair expansion joints in the roadway, and fix the underside of the structure, according to the city’s Department of Aviation.

No buses will be allowed on the upper level terminal core roadway during the construction, which will be complete by early fall.

Until then, all rental car buses and aviation buses must pick up and drop off passengers on the lower level terminal core roadway, the department said.

Regional buses and buses for hotels and motels must use the O’Hare Bus Shuttle Center, the department said. Off-airport parking facility buses must pick up and drop off at the O’Hare Kiss ‘n’ Fly/Airport Transit Station

Bus drivers can expect delays and should allow extra travel time to and from the terminals, the department said.

Six treated for nausea aboard United flight leaving O’Hare

(Chicago)  Six people were treated after the cabin lost pressure aboard a United flight Tuesday morning at O’Hare International Airport.

United Flight 1218 from Chicago to Denver returned to O’Hare aftre about an hour in the air to address a “cabin-pressurization issue” and requested paramedics to meet the flight, according to a statement from airline spokeswoman Karen May.

Firefighters responded to a report of sick people at O’Hare about 10 a.m., according to Fire Media Affairs.

Six people on the plane were treated for ear pain and nausea, according to fire media. They did not require hospitalization.

According to the airline, seven crew members and 174 passengers were aboard the Boeing 737-900.

The aircraft is being inspected and customers are being accommodated Tuesday afternoon, according to the statement.

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