American Airlines Suffers Chicago Ground Stop After Snow Melter Reportedly Catches Fire

American Airlines faced a ground stop instructed by the FAA after there were alleged issues with a snow melter at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. This saw a temporary stop on all flights operated by American and its subsidiaries lasting for an estimated 86 minutes. This saw resulted in flights arriving at the airport also seeing delays for up to 30 minutes before being given clearance to land.

Chicago and the surrounding region have been hampered by two large snow dumps over the past few days, and it was expected for light snowfall for Chicago most of Tuesday afternoon and into the evening, putting a strain on all transport links across the city. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse at ORD when it is alleged that a snow melter caught on fire.

Snow Melter On Fire

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for all American Airlines flights from 9:34 pm through to 11:00 pm on Tuesday, December 30, restricting flights to arrive and depart while the issue was resolved. While the airport is yet to confirm the snow melter caught on fire, rumors are swirling on social media, with aviation insider JonNYC sharing on his Twitter page that there was potentially just a small flame, and this has forced the diversion of many American and United Airlines flights.

A corresponding ATCSCC Advisory was also issued in the early hours of Wenesday 31 December, warning users that they could be expected for airborne holdings of up to 30 minutes, due to a surface incident. The advisory is in full detail below:

ATCSCC ADVZY 016 ORD/ZAU 12/31/2025 ORD AIRPORT ARRIVAL DELAYS

USERS CAN EXPECT ARRIVAL DELAYS / AIRBORNE HOLDING INTO THE O’HARE AIRPORT OF UP TO 30 MINUTES DUE TO SURFACE INCIDENT. UPDATES WILL FOLLOW IF NECESSARY.

A Major Snow Dump For Chicago

Light snow had been forecasted to fall across Chicago throughout Tuesday afternoon and into the early evening. This was expected to cause havoc for evening commuters. While the snowfall was not expected in large quantities, it was expected to cause hazardous road conditions.

The snow was not expected to cause much delay for ORD due to the potential fire from the snow melter, which subsequently affected several flights due to the melter’s proximity to runway 28C. As suggested by WindyCity Weather and News on X, this saw all flights that were scheduled to operate with this runway forced into a go-around. ORD has eight active runways as noted below:

The X post also suggested that airport operations and air traffic control were requesting the switch of operations to runway 27R and 27C, while the airport understood the full extent of the closure required. Subsequently, this led to a ground stop for AA services, and then the advisory that delays were expected throughout the evening.

Operations Halted For 28C

Further reports shared on X have clarified that 28C saw operations halted while the snow melter incident was attended to, whilst the removal of snow for runway 28L was undertaken. The delays to incoming flights have forced more than 30 miles of aircraft lineup north of the runway for those looking to arrive at ORD. As a result, delays to departures are expected to linger into the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Some flights have been diverted due to the incident, including American Airlines flight AA1979, which was operated by the carrier’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft and had been flying from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the Windy City. Instead, its passengers found themselves destined for Indianapolis International Airport (IND).

Chicago O’Hare is one of the busiest airports in the United States, and offers a robust network of domestic and international operations, with American and United Airlines both having a significant presence at the airport. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics outlines that UA maintains more than 40% of all flights at ORD, followed by American Airlines with around 23% of all flights operated.