Vicky

I just got back from a vacation in Santa Fe. The vacation was very nice - sunny, not too cold weather, town was largly free of tourists and my hotel was elegant yet comfortable. But on my return I had to connect in Chicaco O'Hare - my first time. And my last. My flight was supposed to leave at 6:30 PM - I had arrived from Albuquerque at 4:30. Well they kept pushing back the time, saying air traffic control wouldn't let the flight leave from Pittsburgh. In the end we got on the plane at 10:15 and proceeded to taxi for 45 minutes and were #35 for take off. I got home at @ AM. naturally I couldn't make it to work and lost another vacation day. While they gave us assorted stories, the pilot told us they schedule more flights than can be handled so every hour about 50 flights get backed up so by the end of the day it's a nightmare like our 5 hour late flight. I've always wanted to visit Chicago, but I will never be visiting because I will never be flying there again... our airports are in serious trouble!

mrwunrfl

ok, but you can still go to Chicago, just use MDW (Chicago Midway airport)

nytraveler

I've always found O'Hare to be THE worst - esp AA - since there are so many flights coming in from the west that are delayed by snow or sleet in winter and thunderstorms etc in the summer. Have been delayed there overnight 3 times and delayed significantly on at least half my trips through.

And esp worst with AA since they lie to you about the status of flight. So I won't use them anymore unless there's no other choice. IMHO the other airlines may have a mess - but if you check with them before heading to the airport at least they admit it.

So - use Midway - or try to connect via somewhere else if you can.

jersey

Unfortunately, that is the status of flying these days. To me, I'd rather deal with the hassle then not travel. And this has happened to my husband on his last two flights. He sat in the airplane for four hours before taking off for home. This was because of foul weather in another part of the country. But as my DH says, it's better the driving, taking the bus, or the taking the train.

We always try to travel off hours and not on busy holiday times but sometimes it just is what it is.

canterbury

I agree jersey. It's how it is.

DH travels a bunch - at least twice through ORD every month. Surprisingly, he has had very few outrageous delays (even on AA).

Guess that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Fodorite018

We just flew through O'Hare yesterday, on American, and had a delay. Also had a delay at Seatac last week. Yes, those are not fun, but unfortunately that is part of air travel nowdays. Much better than driving long distances in winter, lol!

patg

As I underestand it, there was a serious problem with foggy conditions in some of the area east of Chicago yesterday. The backups were listed on the news at 2-2.5 hours, but it sounds as though the problems had accumulated by the time your plane was scheduled to depart.

It's true that O'Hare is very tightly scheduled compared to many other airports. But the weather is not under the control of anyone - all the airline can do is reschedule flights at a safer time.

Fodorite018

patg--Yes, it looked pretty foggy when we were there. We arrived there at 8am, but didn't leave again til 11. I was glad we were in the morning because I knew it was just going to be worse as the day went on. Like you said, weather can't be controlled...so we just hung out and relaxed.

GBbabe

I flew into ORD last Saturday at 2:30 p.m and my connecting flight left the gate "on time" at 4:30 p.m. It was only 15 minutes before we actually took off. So the explaination you received isn't really the truth everyday.