CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Widespread dense fog has complicated Christmas Eve air travel out of Chicago.
A Dense Fog Advisory for all area counties expired at noon. It included such counties as DeKalb, McHenry, Lake, Kane, DuPage, Kendall, Grundy, Kankakee, Will and Cook Counties.
The National Weather said visibility at times was a half of a mile or less in some spots. The fog gradually improved and by the early afternoon was lifting.
The morning fog continues to impact flights at both area airports, primarily at Midway. As of 4 p.m., 63 flights have been canceled at Midway, and delays were averaging an hour and six minutes. While at O’Hare, 22 flights have been called off, with a minimal delay time of about 15 minutes.
Southwest Airlines, the main airline that operates out of Midway, issued a statement addressing the flight issues. They said that they are working rapidly to accommodate customers with alternative flights.
Here is Southwest Airlines’ full statement:
We’re working with our Customers whose travel is impacted by fog at Chicago Midway that began Saturday night and prevented inbound aircraft from landing, forcing some diversions and subsequent flight cancellations. With visibility remaining below required operational minimums throughout the night and continuing this morning, we’ve modified our planned start for today (Sunday) at Chicago Midway. We have all-hands on deck as our Employees are working quickly to take care of our Customers and accommodate them on alternative flights.
Chicago Midway is our fourth busiest airport operation, with more than 200 departures a day scheduled over the holiday weekend. As a result of the fog at Midway, we have canceled 58 flights for Sunday (less than 1% of our total flights of 4242 systemwide), which are mostly originating flights from Midway. We continue to experience some delays and diversions as fog remains a factor. We apologize for the inconvenience to our Customers as we work to get them to their destination safely.
Last year, there was a meltdown. Bad weather and other issues led to nearly 17,000 Southwest Airlines flight cancellations around Christmas, stranding nearly two million passengers. Just this past week, Southwest was ordered to pay a $140 million civil penalty.
The Chicago Department of Aviation was expecting about three-and-a-half million passengers at both O’Hare and Midway Airports over the holidays.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WBBM Newsradio for updates.
WBBM's Terry Keshner contributed to this report.
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