# US Airport Closures **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005 "2012-10-17T14:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/1 "2012-10-17T14:13:35Z")
I’d like to ask about any US airports\* that have been completely and fully grounded for a day or more since September 11th, 2001. I’m aware that [Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong_New_Orleans_International_Airport#Hurricane_Katrina) was closed for a few weeks following Hurricane Katrina. And (sorry, no cite) Springfield, Illinois’ Abraham Lincoln Capital airport was grounded (IIRC) for around three whole days ~March 2008 due to pea-soup fog that blanketed the city for several days. What are some others? NOTE: [Lambert Saint Louis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert-St._Louis_International_Airport#2011_St._Louis_tornado) was closed for a few hours following a tornado in 2010; I imagine this thread could be filled to the brim with hours-long weather-related closings. \*Let’s limit this to airports offering scheduled, daily commercial passenger flights. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/2 "2012-10-17T14:25:51Z")
I was on the first commercial flight allowed to land at the Mobile, AL airport following Ivan’s landfall in 2004. Several airports were closed for at least 24 hours, including Pensacola. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/3 "2012-10-17T15:34:24Z")
Newark airport shut down for 1-2 days during Hurricane Irene last year. I had a flight that took off the day the airport opened back up. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/4 "2012-10-17T16:41:01Z")
Sioux Falls Regional Airport (FSD) closed down for several weekends in August and September of this year for [runway reconstruction](http://www.sfairport.com/runway.php). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/5 "2012-10-17T17:32:13Z")
In Chicago, Meigs Field was closed[so thoroughly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field#Demolition_and_Closure_by_Chicago_Mayor_Richard_M._Daley)in 2003 that neither the FAA nor the owners of 16 planes knew what hit them. That’s probably not what the OP meant, but to pilots, it’s like Macy’s taking over Marshall Field’s. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/6 "2012-10-17T19:49:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > In Chicago, Meigs Field was closed[so thoroughly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field#Demolition_and_Closure_by_Chicago_Mayor_Richard_M._Daley)in 2003 that neither the FAA nor the owners of 16 planes knew what hit them. How did the owners of those planes manage to get them to functional airports? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/7 "2012-10-17T19:53:33Z")
From the article: “The stranded aircraft were later allowed to depart from Meigs’ 3,000-foot (910 m) taxiway.” ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-airport-closures/638005/8 "2012-10-17T22:30:35Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I was on the first commercial flight allowed to land at the Mobile, AL airport following Ivan’s landfall in 2004. Several airports were closed for at least 24 hours, including Pensacola. In South Florida, the airports tend to point out during hurricanes that they don’t close. The airlines chose to not fly in or out, but the airport is technically open if someone needs to land. -D/a