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300 Flights At O'Hare Canceled Due To Snow

Big Delays At Both Airports; Up To Four Inches Expected By Nightfall

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CHICAGO (CBS) ― The third significant snowstorm of the season has descended upon Chicago, creating a slippery ride for drivers and a tough day for folks at the airports. 

The Chicago Department of Aviation said at 8 p.m. that delays at O'Hare International Airport were 30 to 45 minutes. United Airlines officials said they were seeing delays of as much as 3 hours. There were  300 cancellations at O'Hare, reduced from an earlier total of 450 for the day. United has been the hardest hit with 148 flights canceled; American Airlines canceled 110.

At Midway International Airport, there were 25 cancellations, and  delays were running approximately 30 minutes by Friday night.

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It's the fifth day this week United has been hammered by scores of cancellations.

A United spokesperson says bad weather last weekend at its hubs in Chicago and Denver, combined with the need to rest weary pilots, forced them to cancel flights Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to catch up.

But United Airlines pilot Herb Hunter says the bottom line is a shortage of pilots.

"They can say that this was all weather," Hunter, a spokesperson for the United pilots, said. "Well, if it was all weather, how come we had six or seven times more cancellations than American?" 

A Denver snowstorm delayed flights Thursday, which stranded Springfield-bound Della Resse last night at O'Hare.

"I came in from Houston, missed the flight to Springfield at 9:30, so I had to spend the night at the Hyatt," said Reese.

She spent the night on United's dime. But United pilots insist understaffing by management made weather woes much worse.

In a scathing statement, the pilots association said: "it is unconscionable that United would allow this gaping hole in the schedule during the most critical time of the year for holiday travelers and then try to shift the blame to acts of God."

For passengers like Sonja Smith and her two kids, a long day spent at O'Hare meant one thing: no exit.

"We were on a flight that got canceled on another airline and they said there's no way we can get out today unless we do three stops," Smith said.

One small consolation: United and several other airlines implemented their severe weather waiver, meaning you can rebook without that $100 penalty.

Then there's the situation of a 70-year-old wheelchair-bound woman who flew into O'Hare to catch a flight to her native Albania. A subcontracted United employee was supposed to push her to her gate.

Instead, Sile Jaboni was pushed "about 60 meters, in her words and left her," travel agent Steve Crandall said. "And she's not an experience traveler and doesn't speak English, she just figured she was at the right spot, but after two hours and nothing's happening, she flagged somebody down."

She ended up missing her international flight and was left alone again and sat in her wheelchair for more than 24 hours before someone stopped to help

A United spokesperson calls that "completely unacceptable" adding they are "conducting a full investigation".

But the overriding question is why did it take so long for somebody to notice her at all?

Aviation department spokesperson Karen Pride said, "I'm not exactly sure what the exact responsibilities of our… the Department of Aviation employees are as it pertains to looking after passengers that are at airline gates. So that's something I'd have to look into."

Snow Totals Less Than Projected, But Streets Slushy

A snow advisory had been issued for much of the Chicago area, including, Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane and De Kalb counties, until 6 p.m. Friday. 

CBS 2's Rick DiMaio estimated that the city of Chicago, suburban Cook County and the far west and southwest suburbs would receive about 2 to 3 inches of snow. Areas to the south, including southern Will and Kankakee counties and Northwest Indiana, would receive about 1 to 2 inches of wet, slushy snow. Areas far north and west of Chicago would receive the heaviest snow, at 3 to 4 inches.

The snow accumulations were lower than expected, since the ground temperature has been high enough that the snow has not been sticking, especially along streets that were treated with salt beginning in the early morning hours.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation deployed its full fleet of 273 snow fighting trucks to the city's main roadways and Lake Shore Drive before sunrise. Backhoes loaded thousands of tons of salt on to the trucks ahead of the storm. At 8 p.m., the full fleet and 24 smaller plows remained on Chicago's side streets. They hoped to be done by 10 p.m.

This is the 12th snow advisory so far in the month of December, and the third major snowstorm of the season. Streets and Sanitation snow command is closely monitoring the snow with state-of-the-art cameras, equipped with laser beams that can read road conditions.

"Laser technology is beamed down into the ground, brings information back up into the computer system, which we have off the Internet, which we can only get," said Streets and Sanitation Deputy Commissioner Bobby Richardson.

The snow started falling downtown just after 7 a.m. It is the kind of weather true Chicagoans have learned to expect this time of year.

"During the holiday season I prefer snow, I really do," said Denise Hill of Chicago. "It's OK with me as long as, you know, the sidewalks and streets are taken care of."

Winter officially started only seven days ago, but drivers have seen snowy conditions several times already since late fall. It doesn't make it any easier, especially for those who have to drive from far away.

"It makes travel a little bit difficult," said a woman named Danielle. "I actually came down from Wisconsin and I'm hurrying back as soon as I can to avoid as much of this weather as I can, but it's unbelievable. I haven't seen a December like this in long time."

Motorists are reminded that parking restrictions apply on 607 miles of arterial streets as soon as 2 inches of snow or more fall. Those who violate this policy will receive a ticket, and their cars may be towed to different streets.

If you get towed, you will face a $150 towing fee and a $50 ticket, as well as a $10 daily storage fee.

CBS 2's Rafael Romo, Rick DiMaio, and Derrick Blakely contributed to this report.

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