This Time It's Weather Causing Chicago Airport Problems

O'Hare and Midway airports, still struggling to rebound from last week's massive disruption caused by an allegedly arson-set fire at a suburban Chicago air-traffic-control facility, are again facing hundreds of flight cancellations on Thursday. This time the reason is prosaic: weather. Heavy thunderstorms are forecast for the afternoon. By 10:30 a.m. local time, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, more than 750 flights had been scrapped Thursday, nearly 450 of them at the larger O'Hare. Southwest, which uses Midway, has canceled all arrivals and departures after noon, according to the Sun-Times. Lingering effects of last week's aviation halt, which caused several days' worth of ripple effects nationwide, even caused President Obama to use the airport in nearby Gary, Ind., rather than either Chicago facility, when he arrived Wednesday evening for a slate of events in his hometown.