Southwest Airlines Cancels All Midway Airport Flights

CHICAGO, IL — Midway Airport is virtually shut down as all Southwest Airlines flights into and out of the South Side airport have been canceled or redirected due to Wednesday’s high winds and growing snowstorm.

The whipping winds and snow have reduced visibility to less than a half a mile as of 12:30 p.m.

Late-morning flights from Orlando, Indianapolis and Tampa have been diverted. Other scheduled inbound flights New York, Newark, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Kansas City and other cities have been canceled.

A statement from Southwest Airlines reads:

Southwest has proactively canceled nearly 400 flights out of 3,600 scheduled for today across the system, including the departures from Midway Airport for the remainder of the day. As the storm moves, our planners will make any necessary adjustments to the schedule to ensure the Safety of the airline’s Employees, and Customers.

• WEATHER INFO: Evening Commute Could Be Snowstorm’s Worst Period

Chicago is among a handful of cities experiencing weather-related flight problems today and Thursday, according to a Southwest Airlines travel advisory. Winds as high as 45 to 50 miles per hour have been recorded in the Chicago area.

The other airports include:

• Detroit (DTW)
• Flint (FNT)
• Grand Rapids (GRR)
• Indianapolis (IND)
• St. Louis (STL)

The center of the storm is over Northwest Indiana and headed for the Detroit area.

Flights for Virgin Atlantic, Porter, Delta, KLM and other airlines also are canceled at Midway.

As of 12:45 p.m., 774 flights into and out of O’Hare International Airport out of 2,300 scheduled arrivals and departures have been canceled, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. The Midway cancellation total is 300.

• check FlightView for more information
• Midway Airport weather tracker
• updated delay stats from Chicago Department of Aviation

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