Ground stop due to disabled aircraft at Midway Airport lifted

A ground stop implemented due to a disabled aircraft at Midway Airport was lifted on Sunday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

A ground stop was issued due to a disabled aircraft on the runway until 9 p.m. but was lifted before 8:35 p.m.

The FAA measure comes as scores of travelers tried to make it home on Sunday after hundreds of flights were delayed and canceled following a winter storm. O’Hare, meanwhile, was under a ground delay, which was averaging 92 minutes.

On Saturday, 8.4 inches of snow fell at O’Hare, setting a record for the highest single calendar day snowfall in November at the airport, according to the National Weather Service. That broke the previous record of 8 inches on Nov. 6, 1951.

Roads leading to O’Hare were packed Sunday with slow-moving vehicles even after the roads had been cleared of snow. Inside, delayed travelers crowded into gate seating areas, restaurants and sports bars to pass the time. Others grabbed spots on the floors of the terminals, snacking, knitting or scrolling their phones.

About 300 flights into and out of O’Hare had been canceled by early evening, while about 1,600 had been delayed, according to the tracking site FlightAware. Midway, meanwhile, reported four cancellations and 147 delays.