christmas eve. chicago in its busy o hare airport in the crosshairs. tom costello is there tonight. reporter: wednesday night, and with snow already hitting a crowded minneapolis airport, chicago o hare is also running at full throttle we re going to send them to bravo 5. reporter: counting down with the storm expected to slow air traffic across the region to a trickle within 24 to 36 hours. the cappleman family among the thousands who decided to leave early for florida. we looked at our schedules and it made sense just to try to beat it and hopefully not have cancellations. reporter: they re waiving change fees and encouraging passengers to rebook if they can. this is flight 1865 united airlines service to miami. reporter: omar idris runs united s o hare operations this is exactly the kind of glitch you don t need this week, right? the timing of the storm is challenging, for sure, but we re ready. we re prepared
Memorial Day weekend kicks off what is expected to be a busy summer travel season, but high gas prices, inflation and airfare could throw up roadblocks.