Airlines canceling flights ahead of storm
Flights were being canceled or delayed at airports in Denver and Colorado Springs this morning, in anticipation of a major winter storm.
Airport representatives said they did not yet have the number of flights affected but urged people flying today to call their airlines for updated information before heading to Denver International Airport or the Colorado Springs Airport.
A spokesman for DIA, Chuck Cannon, said light snow was falling and runways were wet at about 10:30 a.m. He said more than 300 pieces of snow removal equipment are on standby, and aprons and taxi-ways at the airport already have been treated with anti-icing fluid.
He said many airlines were pro-actively canceling flights to avoid having fliers stranded at the airport should a major snowstorm bring the airport to a standstill. He said some airlines this morning were allowing people to take earlier flights on a stand-by basis. He said fliers, especially those planning to drive from Colorado Springs, need to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
He urged people not to come to the airport early. He said that clogs airliner counters and security check-in points unnecessarily.
Kelly Jackson, a representative of the Colorado Springs Airport, said a number of flights to Denver already had been canceled or delayed by mid-morning. Flights to other destinations remained on schedule as of this morning. She, too, urged fliers to call their airlines before driving to the airport.
Meanwhile, snowplows crews with the Colorado Department of Transportation are poised later today to go onto 12-hour shifts throughout the Pike Peak region.
Thirty trucks will be assigned to Intestate 25, U.S. Highway 24, U.S. Highway 85/87 and state highways 16, 21 (Powers Boulevard), 67, 83 (north from Powers Boulevard), 94, 105 (west of I-25) and 115.
TO TRACK THE STORM
Road conditions: www.cotrip.org or call 511. Latest weather forecast: www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/
Colorado Springs Airport: http://www.springsgov.com/AirportIndex.asp, which has links to airlines.Denver International Airport: http://www.flydenver.com/
