Denver travel mess: 750 flight cancellations and counting
Airlines canceled more than 750 flights into and out of Denver Wednesday ahead of a spring blizzard, and the travel pain is expected to spread to other cities as the potentially historic storm moves into the upper Midwest.
Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, which have major operations at Denver International Airport, each canceled about 200 flights to and from Denver, according to flight tracker FlightAware. That's about half of their scheduled Wednesday flights. Regional airline SkyWest, a feeder carrier for United, canceled 158 flights, about half of its scheduled flights. Frontier, which is based in Denver, has canceled 39 Denver flights.
The Denver cancellations are already spilling into Thursday, with 175 flights to and from the airport canceled as of 6:45 p.m. EDT, according to FlightAware. That number is expected to grow as the storm develops.
You don't have to be flying to or from Denver to be affected. Southwest and United connect a lot of passengers through Denver, so travelers are urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Airlines have been allowing travelers to change their flights to avoid the storm, dubbed Winter Storm Wesley.
Policies vary by airline, but in general the waivers allowed affected travelers to change their flights without penalty.
Passengers whose flights are canceled are eligible for a refund even if they bought a nonrefundable ticket.
Airline travel waivers for spring blizzard
Southwest Airlines: Covers Denver flights scheduled for April 10 and 11 and Minneapolis flights April 10-12. Milwaukee flights on April 10 also included.
United Airlines: Covers Colorado flights and flights in Minneapolis and cities in the Great Plains from April 10-11.
American Airlines: Covers Colorado and Upper Midwest flights from April 10-11.
Frontier Airlines: Covers Colorado, Minneapolis, Wisconsin and other Upper Midwest flights from April 10-11.
Delta Air Lines: Covers flights to and from Colorado and Upper Midwest cities from April 10-11.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Denver travel mess: 750 flight cancellations and counting
