Snowstorm disrupts flights in Midwest, Rockies
Airlines waived change fees as a major winter storm moved from the Rockies into the Upper Midwest, creating a nuisance for air travelers at several airports in the regions.
Nationwide, about 410 flights had been canceled as of 2:25 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. That’s a modest by national standards, but there were several airports seeing significant disruptions. It also comes after 730 nationwide cancellations on Monday, when about a third of all flights at the busy Denver International Airport were grounded. Denver is a hub for both United and Frontier and is a major base for Southwest.
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Flight schedules improved Tuesday at Denver, but had not returned to normal. About 1 out of every 10 flights had been canceled there as of 2:25 p.m. ET. Elsewhere, about a third of the schedule had been grounded at Nebraska's Omaha airport and about 15% in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Meanwhile, in Iowa, the poor weather could slow some the exodus of campaign staffers and political pundits trying to head out following Monday's caucus vote there.
At Des Moines International Airport, managers said the worst of a predicted storm appeared poised to miss the area. At 7:30 a.m. ET, winds were gusting and snow had just begun falling in 34-degrees temperatures.
"The system is moving on in to Chicago," says Kevin Foley, the airport's executive director.
Still, a little more than 5% of day's flights there had been grounded, according to FlightAware. Flights to Chicago O'Hare -- a hub for American and United -- were among the cancellations, though not all Chicago flights had been grounded. Overall, about 50 flights -- or only about 2% of the day's schedule -- had been canceled at O'Hare.
Back at Des Moines, the Tuesday after the caucuses is traditionally one of the airport's busiest days -- trailing only the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Foley says.
Foley says the TSA, airlines and rental car companies all brought in additional staff to handle the crush. Some airlines even added additional flights or used larger aircraft than usual.
"We have a lot of people trying to leave Iowa all at the same time," he says. "We started planning for this about six months ago."
Elsewhere, several other airports in the Rockies and Upper Midwest also were experiencing above-average cancellation rates, though nothing crippling like was seen during the East Coast blizzard a week ago. Among airports seeing at least some disruptions Tuesday were Aspen, Colo.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Rochester, Minn.
Most big U.S. airlines had issued flexible rebooking waivers for customers ticketed to fly to affected airports. Most carriers' policies covered airports in both the Rockies and Midwest, though some included only the Rockies.
Details varied by airline, but most storm waivers let fliers change their itineraries – with some restrictions – without additional fees or fare changes. Scroll down for links to the change policies from U.S. airlines for the latest winter storm:
Trevor Hughes reported from Des Moines.
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