DIA struggles to stay open

Storm grounds flights, disrupts travel plans of about 22,000 holiday travelers

Chris Walsh, Fernando Quintero and Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, December 29, 2006

Snowbound airlines are bracing for more cancellations today on top of the 200-plus axed on Thursday, creating another round of disruption for travelers ahead of the busy holiday weekend.

Airline officials say it could take a day or two to reroute all the passengers whose flights have been cut.

But there's a bright side: It isn't as bad as last week, when thousands of travelers were stranded at DIA and some were forced to wait five days or more for an available flight. And the airport hadn't closed as of Thursday evening.

"Our planes are not as full as they were before Christmas," United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said Thursday. "And we saw a lot of people who changed their travel plans and left this morning," helping free up seats on other flights.

Still, the cancellations, which represent about 15 percent of scheduled flights, disrupted travel plans for roughly 22,000 people trying to get into or out of Denver, according to estimates based on expected passenger traffic.

With forecasts predicting more snow this morning and afternoon, carriers also have canceled some flights today, although the exact number is unknown.

DIA crews are optimistic they'll be able to keep the airfield and terminal operating if the storm comes in waves instead of in one, relentless dump like last week's blizzard. Turner West, DIA's manager, said workers cleared the last of the old snow off the entire airfield by Wednesday, freeing up space to push the new snowfall.

Airlines, though, began canceling flights Thursday morning. This allowed customers who were notified of changes or discovered them on a Web site to rebook early and save a trip to the airport. It also let carriers reposition their fleets so planes aren't stuck on the ground in Denver.

United Airlines continued the trend into the evening, scuttling 120 flights at DIA between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. but it still operated some departures and arrivals. The carrier nixed 75 departures for this morning, although it expects to operate a full schedule by afternoon if the storm allows. United operates nearly 900 daily flights into and out of Denver.

Frontier Airlines canceled 60 departures and arrivals at DIA Thursday, representing 20 percent of its daily flights here. The Denver-based carrier also canceled 66 departures from and arrivals to DIA today.

Southwest Airlines cut flights that were scheduled to land in Denver late Thursday because the carrier didn't want any planes stuck here. Its initial departures today also have been scrubbed.

"When we start operating in Denver again depends on when we can get aircraft there in the morning," said Beth Harbin, a spokeswoman for Southwest.

Most carriers are waiving fees for customers who want to rebook. For those whose flights are still on for today, officials recommend getting to the airport as many as four hours before departure.

Lines at United and Frontier check-in counters began building Thursday, eventually stretching several hundred people deep. Some passengers arrived seven or eight hours early to allow plenty of time to check in and get through security, Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said.

Others who were scheduled to fly out late Thursday or even today came to the airport ahead of time to try to get on an earlier flight. Frontier advises against doing so, despite the fact that it's difficult to get through on the phone.

"The perception is that the closer I am to the airplane, the better chance I have to get out early," Hodas said. "They don't have a better chance, though."

United's e-ticket lines were surprisingly light. But hundreds of people lined up at its other check-in counters, which double-backed on each other.

As travelers continued to spill into the terminal, a beefed-up customer service staff at Frontier and United directed people into appropriate lines.

The Jessen family of Tennessee waited for two hours in the wrong line before they were directed into the right one. The family was scheduled for a 10:40 a.m. flight this morning but, like many others, decided to get to the airport to see if they could change their ticket to Thursday to beat the storm.

Steve Jessen, who was traveling with his wife and two sons, wasn't too stressed over the possible travel delays.

"If we don't get out tonight, we'll just go back to my folks in Loveland," he said.

"They're having a big wing-ding. It'd be a good old time."

The airport and airlines began preparing for the storm early, hoping to avoid some of the headaches of last week.

The airport said it has plenty of blankets - 5,000 new ones and 2,000 cleaned from last week - cots for the disabled and needy, water, diapers, baby formula and snacks.

Restaurants and snack shops also have been replenished with a three-day supply of food. Some concessionaires agreed to extend their hours.

The Transportation Security Administration kept additional teams of screeners on duty who had been brought in from Los Angeles and Las Vegas to help with the load.

If a large number of people become stranded by canceled flights, TSA will screen them and allow them to disperse to concourses rather than have everyone ride it out in the main terminal.

DIA was able to hire private contractors to deploy an additional 84 plows and other equipment to try to keep snow off the concourse aprons and taxiways.

By 2 p.m. Thursday, crews had applied a de-icing solution on all six runways and high-speed taxiways to hold down accumulation.

In the early afternoon, access to the 45-minute driver-waiting area on Peña Boulevard was restricted. So many people were pulling in to wait for their arriving passengers that the line of traffic was backing out onto the boulevard.

Airport officials said they would consider reopening the popular staging area, since closing it means drivers have to continue circling the terminal to pick up their parties.

Flight information

Airlines ask travelers to first log onto the DIA Web site to make sure the airport is open. If it is, they should then go to their airline's Web site for updated flight information. Here are helpful numbers and Web sites:

• DIA

Phone: 800-247-2336

Web: www.flydenver.com

• United Airlines

Phone: 800-864-8331 Web: www.united.com

• Frontier Airlines

Phone: 800-432-1359 Web: www.frontierairlines.com

• American Airlines

Phone: 800-433-7300 Web: www.aa.com

• Southwest Airlines

Phone: 800-435-9792

Web: www.southwest.com

• For links to other airlines, check out www.flydenver.com/flights/airlines.asp