CHICAGO (STNG) -- Both foul weather and wiring inspections are leading to delays and cancellations Thursday at O'Hare Airport.
Aviation Department spokesman Greg Cunningham said that, as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, delays were running 30 to 90 minutes at O'Hare, and that 200 of O'Hare's regularly-scheduled flights had been cancelled.
Cunningham said operations at Midway were close to normal, but he urged travelers and those meeting people at O'Hare to call ahead.
Cunningham said in addition to the wiring inspections, which has taken its toll on American Airlines and Delta Air Lines flights, low visibility is slowing arrivals and departures.
The number of cancellations has grown as the rain has changed over to snow. Forecasters are predicting snow and sleet accumulation of an inch, with a chance of snow continuing overnight.
Inspection of McDonnell-Douglas-built MD-80 jets continues at American and Delta. American spokesman Tim Wagner said the inspections, to determine how a bundle of wires is secured in the jet's belly, have caused the cancellation of 22 Thursday departures from O'Hare and 132 American flights nationwide.
The inspections forced cancellation of 318 American flights Wednesday.
Wagner said 243 planes have undergone inspection and any needed modifications and have been returned to service.
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