DENVER — Denver International Airport is expecting more than 2-million travelers over the holiday break, but a powerful winter storm hitting Colorado Monday could mean cancelations and delays that stretch into Tuesday.
The storm's impact on flights is unknown at this time, but some airlines are offering waivers and are adjusting their policies ahead of the storm that could bring up to two feet of snow, strong winds and freezing temperatures to the area.
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The following are statements from airlines that serve DIA regarding their operations in the coming days:
United: "We have a waiver in place for customers traveling to, from and through Denver. We'll continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as we move further into the holiday travel period." united.com/cms/en-us/travel/news/pages/testfirst.aspx
Southwest: "Customers who are holding reservations to/from/through Denver on Monday or Tuesday may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures without paying any additional charge."
Frontier: "In preparation for the winter storm moving through the Rocky Mountains, Frontier has enacted a travel advisory that allows for customers traveling through Denver or Colorado Springs to make one itinerary change." flyfrontier.com/alert/?mobile=true
Delta: "At this time, no cancellations are in place or plans to move planes around to avoid them getting snowed in. They are predicting the need for deicing at this time. They have a team of meteorologists monitoring the situation. No fee waivers at this time." delta.com/us/en/advisories/current-advisories
American: "We have not issued a travel alert for Denver. If we do, it will be listed at aa.com/travelalerts. As always, our team at our operations center in Fort Worth, Texas, monitors all weather across our operation."
Spirit: The airline has not posted an advisory as of Sunday night. spirit.com/travel-advisory
Here are some tips for dealing with the crowds:
— Check FlyDenver.comand digital monitors inside the terminal for information on TSA security wait times.
— Get to the airport early. TSA says it will use overtime and move screeners around to make sure checkpoints are adequately staffed, and that mostly worked over the summer.
— Check TSA's website to make sure you're not carrying prohibited items. "You wouldn't believe some of the things that we see at our checkpoints each and every day, and the No. 1 thing we hear from passengers is, 'I forgot it was there,'" said Patricia Cogswell, TSA's acting deputy administrator.
— Sign up for a trusted-traveler programs like Precheck. It might not always save you that much time — Precheck lines can get long too — but at least you won't have to take off shoes, belts and light jackets, and you can leave that tablet or laptop in your bag.
— Be patient, and get used to it. Travel demand is booming, so "passengers will continue to experience holiday-level travel volumes throughout the year, but this is our busiest time of the year," said Kevin Burke, CEO of Airports Council International-North America, an airport trade group.
