Airlines Recovering After Hundreds Of Flights Canceled During Chicago Snowstorm
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Airlines were playing catch-up Tuesday morning at O'Hare and Midway airports, after hundreds of flights were cancelled Sunday and Monday due to the historic winter storm.
More than 50 flights were cancelled Tuesday morning at O'Hare, but that was nothing compared to the height of the storm, which forced airlines to cancel more than 1,300 flights on Sunday and Monday.
Flights were grounded due to the runway conditions at O'Hare, as the storm dumped 8.4 inches of wet, heavy snow by Monday afternoon.
Nearly 5 inches of snow fell during the storm at Midway, where airlines canceled nearly 100 flights Sunday and Monday.
Some airlines allowed travelers to rebook their flights without additional fees, due to the weather.
Mariana Tarbanino slept at O'Hare, after a grueling ordeal on Monday. She was flying from San Francisco to Greensboro, North Carolina, through Chicago, but her flight was diverted to St. Louis due to the storm.
"They offered bus rides here. I took that instead of waiting the 12 hours or 15 hours of the flight delay there. I got here around 6:30, and I've been here since," she said. "I got out of the bus obviously ill-prepared for this weather. I could see my breath, and I was just like 'Oh, no. It's so cold.' I didn't bother using the voucher for a hotel or anything, because it was like 12 hours, I didn't figure it was worth it."
Tarbanino was hoping to take off for Greensboro at 7 a.m. Tuesday.