Chicago's Airports Canceling Flights Ahead Of East Coast Blizzard
Updated 01/22/16 - 11:49 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A massive winter storm set to hit the East Coast on Friday was wreaking havoc at airports across the country, including at O'Hare and Midway in Chicago.
Winter Storm Jonas will miss Chicago, but its effects were being felt at Chicago's two airports. CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, as of 11 a.m., airlines had canceled more than 155 flights at O'Hare International Airport, and nearly 60 at Midway International Airport. Meantime, ice on the runway at O'Hare was causing delays of up to 50 minutes.
Nationwide, about 1,000 flights had been canceled early Friday in anticipation of the storm, and things were only expected to get worse. Flight tracking website FlightAware predicted 2,000 flights would be canceled on Friday due to the weather, and another 3,000 on Saturday. In all, about 200,000 travelers would be affected.
United Airlines completely shut down its operations in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday.
Airlines have said customers can re-book for free if their flights are canceled due to the storm.
The huge blizzard was expected to affect about 75 million people from Arkansas to New England.
States of emergency already have been declared in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and D.C..
Washington, D.C., was expected to get slammed by the storm, and has shut down its bus and rail system for the weekend.