DIA Prepares For Snowstorm, 166 Flights Cancelled
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver International Airport is expecting up to 14 inches of snow over the weekend. The snow began to intensify around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and flights have already been cancelled in preparation.
As of Saturday afternoon, there have been 166 flight cancellations, largely from smaller regional flights to mountain towns and local cities. Several mainline flights are also affected.
Weather on the East Coast has affected some flights to New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The heaviest snowfall at DIA is expected between 5 and 8 p.m.
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Passengers should expect to spend some extra time on the runway while planes deice.
Delays are not significant, though, and the FAA has not implemented any aircraft traffic management programs for DIA. It's possible that such protocols could be put in place Saturday night.
DIA has over 270 pieces of snow equipment, and over 500 trained snow-removal personnel. For this weekend's storm, the airport will deploy blowers, brooms, blades, plows, runway sander, chemical trucks, and loaders with box plows. They also plan to use snow melting equipment.
This weekend's travel at DIA is lighter than usual, with about 117,000 passengers on Saturday and 137,000 passengers on Sunday. The average traffic for DIA is 144,000 passengers a day.
