Cancellations mounting at DIA

Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Denver International Airport is crawling toward a standstill as carriers cancel a majority of their flights into and out of the city.



United Airlines, Denver’s largest carrier, has bagged 341 of its 441 scheduled departures today, company spokesman Jeff Kovick said. It’s also canceling most of its inbound flights as well.

Most flights it didn’t cancel took off or landed earlier this morning.

"There are a few stragglers where we’re trying to decide if it’s safe to have them come in or out," Kovick said. "We’re obviously asking customers to be as patient as possible. We all have the same goal, which is to get them to their destinations as quickly and safely as possible."

Frontier Airlines, the second-biggest carrier at DIA, has canceled more than 25 percent of its 300 scheduled arrivals and departures today. It’s currently holding all incoming flights and says there’s a possibility it will cancel all its outgoing flights as well.

Southwest Airlines has canceled all flights into and out of Denver until 7 p.m., "at which time we will reevaluate the conditions and determine if it is safe to resume operations," company spokeswoman Paula Berg said.

Travelers can find updated cancellation information on individual airline Web sites. Some carriers are waiving rebooking fees for customers who choose to fly at later dates rather than take their chances trying to travel in the next day or two.

Many flights over the next few days are already packed because of the busy Christmas travel season, meaning it could be difficult for airlines to reroute customers stranded by the storm.

"It’s going to be extremely difficult to rebook all these people," said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas. "All the airlines are full for the holidays, so when you cancel a bunch of flights it’s really tough" to find enough space for all the stranded travelers.

The primary problem for airlines at this point isn’t the snow buildup.

"There are only a couple inches on the ground, but the wind is pretty strong, and it’s blowing sideways," DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon said this morning. "If airlines just give up and cancel everything, we’ll keep Pena Blvd. open and just try to get people out of here."