Ahead of Winter Storm Ulmer, Southwest Airlines took a precautionary measure and cancelled several flights in Denver that could be affected by the possible snowfall.
In response to several people who voiced on Twitter that their Wednesday flight was cancelled on Tuesday, Southwest Airlines explained the company started to cancel flights because of the impending weather. However, not all flights out of Denver International Airport were cancelled.
"We proactively cancel flights rather than delaying customers without knowing when (or if) their flights would operate," one customer service representative wrote on Twitter. "We can't always predict Mother Nature and we ultimately have to make the decision to cancel flights."
As of Tuesday evening, Flight Aware reported more than 700 flights in Denver were already cancelled and 390 belonged to Southwest.
Ahead of the storm, United Airlines issued a travel waiver for the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. Passengers traveling on Wednesday or Thursday could change their flight at no cost, as long as they were traveling to, from or through one of the following airports:
- Aspen, CO (ASE)
- Bismarck, ND (BIS)
- Casper, WY (CPR)
- Colorado Springs, CO (COS)
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Devils Lake, ND (DVL)
- Dickinson, ND (DIK)
- Duluth, MN (DLH)
- Durango, CO (DRO)
- Fargo, ND (FAR)
- Gillette, WY (GCC)
- Grand Junction, CO (GJT)
- Gunnison, CO (GUC)
- Hayden, CO (HDN)
- Jamestown, ND (JMS)
- Laramie, WY (LAR)
- Minot, ND (MOT)
- Montrose/Telluride, CO (MTJ)
- North Platte, NE (LBF)
- Pierre, SD (PIR)
- Pueblo, CO (PUB)
- Rapid City, SD (RAP)
- Scottsbluff, NE (BFF)
- Sioux Falls, SD (FSD)
- Watertown, SD (ATY)
- Williston, ND (ISN)
- Vail/Eagle, CO (EGE)
Delta also issued a travel waiver for passengers traveling to, from or through several locations on Wednesday and Thursday with the condition that the rebooked travel began no later than Sunday. Passengers eligible for the travel waiver had three options, one of which was to remain on their current flight.
They could also change their ticket to a different flight without paying any applicable change fees, as long as there were no changes made to the originally ticketed cities and made within the guidelines. Passengers' third option was to cancel their trip and apply the unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket to be used within one year from the original issue date. However, change fees and fare difference would apply.
The National Weather Service in Boulder issued a blizzard warning for several areas of Colorado, including Denver. Heavy snow and very strong winds were forecasted to develop Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night, bringing with it between five and eight inches of snow, wind damage and likely power outages. The warning was in effect from 10:00 a.m. MST on Wednesday until midnight on Wednesday night.
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