Chicago O'Hare Delays
Did you know Chicago O'Hare Airport has the worst flight delays in the whole country? It was so bad that the FAA had to limit the number of flights O'Hare handled. As a result, O'Hare, which had been the world's busiest airport, was surpassed by Atlanta's airport. It is now the second-busiest airport in the world, and busy means delays.
It's not just that Chicago O'Hare is busy but it's also located in a place where the climate gets pretty darn cold and snowy in the winter. As a result, there can be a lot of problems caused by weather. In order to assure safe travel, flights are often delayed or even canceled. Of course it's not just the weather at O'Hare that affects traffic, but also the weather at the other point of the flight, or even at points between the flights.
Whenever there is any delay, it causes a ripple effect, just like what causes traffic jams on the highway. Somebody hits the brake unexpectedly and that compacts traffic and the next thing you know you have traffic congestion and a traffic jam. The same sort of thing happens with airplanes. If one airplane departs or arrives later than expected, every plane down the line is affected.
Sometimes the backup in traffic means planes need to circle around the city until they're given they okay to land. Controlling air traffic is an amazingly complex endeavor.
The Federal Aviation Administration tracks all flights in the United States. Their Air Traffic Control System Command Center publishes general flight status information on their website, but it is advisable for you to contact your airline directly for information on flight delays.