Bad weather across the U.S. has caused over 12,000 flight delays as of Sunday. Has the bad weather impacted flight prices at all?

The analysis

We are going to be looking at:

• Flights on Sky Key that are arriving and departing Chicago O’Hare International Airport
• These flights all arrive/depart within the next month

Why are we looking at Chicago O’Hare? Because you’d have to be crazy to fly into Chicago in the winter. It’s freezing cold and nicknamed the Windy City for good reason. Just kidding, because Chicago has been heavily impacted by the recent snowstorms- with thousands of flight delays/cancellations in just the past few days.

Has the snowstorm cooled off prices of flights going into and out of O’Hare? The results may surprise you.

The results

Our early data suggests the snowstorms haven’t impacted flight prices for flights arriving/departing O’Hare in any major way. As you can see in the following chart:

• Flight prices increased about 0.4% between 11/27 and 11/28, the day the snow started. Not statistically significant by any stretch of the imagination
• Since 11/24, flight prices of flights arriving/departing O’Hare are down about 0.2%… Basically unchanged

This result is pretty remarkable. In other markets (like the stock market), big events tend to cause big price increases or decreases. Anyone remember January 27th, 2025? The day DeepSeek launched its R1 model and cut $600 billion from Nvidia’s market cap.

You would think a major snowstorm at Chicago O’Hare, the biggest airport in the U.S. by number of gates, would have a material impact on flight prices. But it doesn’t seem like the storm has impacted flight prices at all.

What should I do?

It’s hard to time flight prices. Airlines may increase prices to make up for lost revenue due to flight cancellations. Prices may go down if travelers cancel other trips and the supply of seats increases.

It’s difficult to predict where flight prices are headed. For this reason, we recommend booking your flight and then uploading your ticket to Sky Key. Sky Key ensures you pay the lowest price for your flight. If prices go down after you book your ticket, Sky Key will automatically get you money, miles or credits back. Your wallet will thank you later.

– Billy Bund. Co-Founder @ Sky Key