Chicago O'Hare International Airport halted all flights on Tuesday after a Federal Aviation Administration ground stop tied to severe weather, intensifying U.S. airport flight cancellations for travelers using ORD. The airport also moved to a ground delay until 10 p.m., leaving passengers on United Airlines and American Airlines facing long waits and rolled flights.
ORD delays reached 144 minutes
The FAA said delays at the Chicago airport were averaging 144 minutes, and the disruption pushed more than half of flights in and out of ORD off schedule. Chicago Midway Airport also faced a ground stop on all flights Tuesday, widening the impact across Chicago for travelers trying to get out of the city.
By Wednesday morning, cancellations at ORD stood at nine, with SkyWest canceling four flights. The airport had the most cancellations among all airports for the third day in a row, showing how quickly the storm system kept the schedule from recovering.
United Airlines and American Airlines
ORD is a major hub for United Airlines and American Airlines, so the airport-wide halt hit two carriers with large Chicago schedules. United Airlines had 19 cancellations and 518 delays for flights out of Chicago, while its total delay count reached 1,101, the second most worldwide and just behind Delta Air Lines.
That mix created the sharpest operational mismatch in the day’s data: United kept cancellations relatively low compared with some rivals, yet it still had the most delays for flights out of Chicago. SkyWest, Republic, and Envoy Air had the most cancellations for ORD flights on Tuesday, followed by American Airlines.
Chicago Thunderstorms travel alerts
American Airlines updated its travel alerts page with a rebooking offer for ORD flights on August 11, and United Airlines had a similar offer in place for Chicago Thunderstorms. United said a new flight must be booked by August 14, giving travelers a narrow window to shift plans while the storm-driven schedule remains in flux.
For passengers, the immediate next step is to check whether a delayed departure has turned into a cancellation before heading back to the airport. With ORD still carrying the heaviest load of cancellations and delays in Chicago, the best near-term answer is simple: expect the schedule to keep moving until the weather stops forcing the FAA to reset it.
