LIH

Was supposed to do ORD <> MCI today and both my outbound and return on UX were toast despite it not being all that cold this AM. Undoubtedly cutting UX flights to manage overall volume. Meanwhile, I am due to fly to MIA tomorrow mid-day and pretty concerned about that one given that it will be -40 or worse windchill at that point. No real flexibility in that travel so no choice but to ride it out.

It has been a bad luck winter for me so far, especially given that weather in Chicago really hasn't been that bad. Ultimately just means a few weeks of crushed travel for me in Feb/Mar to make up for a bunch of sideways business trips.

JimInOhio

Just talked to an agent here at the UC in ORD. UA might cancel all operations at ORD tomorrow (1/30) due to the extreme cold. Supposedly a decision will be make at 6 PM CST today.

threeoh

This is so weird. With snow and other storms, the predictions are often in flux until 6-12 hours before. But with this cold weather, that's not the case.

I've read the NWS forecast discussion and it is extremely solid and has been for days, both on temperature and wind. The biggest question seems to be a matter of a few degrees F based on how much cloud cover there is (which affects radiative cooling).

Seems if they were going to cancel everything, they should have done it on Sunday and given people time to make alternate plans.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

threeoh

Fair point about the waiver, which allows people to make their own assessment.

Hurricanes and other storms are notorious for switching direction or dissipating at the last minute. I still think the degree of confidence about this cold snap -- enough, apparently, for them to fly in rampers from other cities to work relief shifts -- has not changed appreciably from 6pm Monday to 6pm Tuesday.

milepig

It isn't just cold here in Chicago - it's damn cold. And to add to the fun there are on and off little snow showers that with the extreme cold don't have a chance of melting so it just blows around in the wind. it's already grim at 4 degrees and at least partly sunny. Overnight tonight and tomorrow I don't want to think about. Just like we're closing, I'm sure protection of the UA staff has something to do with the decision - no one should be out with temps below -20 and windchill around -50. It just isn't safe.

We first planned to reopen on Thursday at the regular time, but now that we're getting better hourly forecasts we realize that Thursday will begin at just about the coldest temps and are rethinking exactly when we'll reopen that day. The roads are fine, the issue is that no one should be trying to get into work in that cold.

nyr2299

My 6am flight was just canceled. I bet they close the whole thing

threeoh

Currently -27 F in Winnipeg and those flights are going out fine :-p

(YES, I realize operating a hub is different than an outstation and YES, I realize that YWG ramp staff as well as other airport staff and passengers are more acclimated / better prepared to handle that, though I think it's pretty cold even for Manitoba. I can actually understand UA going either way on this, just don't understand why they are waiting till the last minute.)

Temps will be brutal Thurs morning but wind will have died down a lot so windchill won't be as bad as Wednesday morning.

LIH

Heard the same thing as the poster up-thread that they may shutter ORD entirely (from the GS desk). Loads are super-light because of the long lead-time here. My ORD > MIA flight 9/30 was already killed and re-routed via EWR. Didn't have the flexibility to get out today, unfortunately. Going to be a big headache for me if they shut down but mother nature is hard to bargain with.

Born-and-raised in Chicago and while -20-30 windchills aren't uncommon for a few days in the average winter... -50 is cray.

rolltribe

Per WSJ, UA is expecting to cancel about 500 of the roughly 600 departures tomorrow. WN has already pulled the plug on MDW. On a quick scan of statuses as of 7 CT, looks like most UAX are cancelled, and looks like mainline to non-hubs tomorrow cut roughly in half, with most hub flights and int'l safe. I'm sure more will be cancelled as we go on through the night and day.

PsiFighter37

goodeats21

Lots of pieces of machinery other than the planes that need to work in order for the flight to get out. Imagine the bitter cold takes its toll on tugs, fuel trucks, catering equipment, etc.
And yeah, I feel for the under wing staff...and especially if any de-icing is going on. Those folks on the exposed cherry pickers always look miserable.

threeoh

Long convo about this over in this thread: UA 179 (EWR-HKG) 19 Jan 2019 diverted YYR , passengers stuck on board for 13 hours

Short answer: yes, it can cause problems, but doesn't necessarily.

And of course tugs, fuel trucks, jet bridges, etc. and under the wing staff moving more slowly and taking more warming breaks. Plus not all staff will be able to get the the airport, etc.

Airlines fly to Alaska, Canada, and Russia all the time. -20 F is not impossible to fly to, just takes more time, resources, and precautions.

CruiserCLE

Seems there's some back and forth going on - most of the ORD-ATL UAX flights were cancelled and while I rebooked myself to Thursday, it's interesting they've actually reinstated a few of them and have noted that in the detailed flight status info on the app "...has been reinstated and scheduled to depart at 09:50 AM. Your estimated time in Atlanta is 12:54pm/. We're sorry for any confusion, and appreciate your patience."

If they've done that with a bunch of flights I imagine there's quite a few confused pax right now. Not going to bother switching my flight back at this point but will be curious to see what they end up doing with them,

mdbe