The first day of mandatory flight reductions during air traffic controller shortages due to the government shutdown meant cancellations and hundreds of delays at O’Hare and Midway.
By midday on Friday, the website FlightAware said more than 300 flights had been delayed at the two airports and about 100 cancelled.
Doreen Stoutland and Nancy Zazanis were supposed to be on a direct flight from LAX yesterday but it was cancelled.
The flight they booked through Phoenix was delayed for several hours and their luggage ended up going ahead without them, so they had to return to O’Hare to pick it up.
They’re here for a convention and are worried about their return flight Sunday.
United said it planned to cancel 4% or about 20 round-trip flights at O’Hare this weekend and would work up to 10% by a week from today.
Rene George says the pilot on his United flight from Bangor, Maine to Reagan National in Washington DC blamed their late start on the air traffic controller shortage.
But George says the widespread delays meant he and his wife were able to catch their connecting flight to Chicago.