Chicago Snow Causes Trouble For Air Travelers, Passengers Held On Midway Tarmac For Hours

Passengers Stuck For 4 Hours On Midway Tarmac, Thanks To Snow

The massive snow storm that hit the Chicago area this week before heading east caused some big problems for air travelers at the city's two major airports.

At O'Hare International Airport, almost 700 flights were canceled over the three days of the storm, according to NBC Chicago.

While far fewer cancelations were reported at Midway airport, many Southwest Airlines passengers were stuck on the tarmac for up to four hours on Friday morning as a backup in plane traffic that started Thursday night caused arriving planes to land without having anywhere to go.

All passengers made it to the terminal by 3:15 a.m. Friday but proceeded to face more long delays with their baggage, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Southwest and AirTran Airways proceeded to cancel all its flights at Midway through at least noon Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune. Southwest is urging air travelers to consult its website for updates.

According to a Department of Transportation regulation approved in 2009, aircraft on domestic flights are not allowed to keep passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours, unless there is a safety or security concern.

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Chicago Hit With Snow, Extreme Cold

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