Friday, 20 Sep 2024

Southwest Airlines flights at DIA have bumpy start to Independence Day weekend

The extremely busy Independence Day travel weekend got off to a bumpy start Friday at the Denver International Airport with 127 canceled flights and 413 delayed flights by late-afternoon Friday.

The majority of canceled and delayed flights at DIA were by Southwest Airlines, according to Flight Aware. Southwest canceled 75 flights, or 14% of its DIA traffic. The airline had 159 delayed flights, as of about 4 p.m., about 30% percent of its Denver traffic.

Stormy weather on Thursday temporarily halted inbound flights from landing at DIA late in the morning, and Friday weather forecast once again called for thunderstorms with possible heavy rains.

There’s a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms in Denver through 9 p.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.

“Scattered slow moving thunderstorms with heavy rainfall are expected again this afternoon and evening,” the weather service said. “The strongest storms will produce rainfall of 1 to 2 inches in an hour or two.”

Locally heavy rainfall is possible through the weekend, with isolated to scattered afternoon thunderstorms, according to the weather service.

“We’ve been experiencing relentless summer storms across many parts of our country, including some of our busier airports, which has introduced a greater amount of delay than we traditionally see this time of year,” said Alan Kasher, executive vice president of daily operations, in a statement. “We want you to have as much confidence in your travel plans as we can possibly give you, and we are working to ensure we deliver the experience you expect from Southwest.”

Delta and United airlines had no cancelations at DIA on Friday as of 4 p.m., according to Flight Aware. Delta had five flights delayed, or 8%; United had 79 delays, or 19%.

About 2.5 million travelers are expected to pass through DIA over the Independence Day weekend, and through Tuesday,

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