Reddit user geoduck76
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The Federal Aviation Admission has issued a ground stop order at Denver International Airport, with airport officials also announcing a power outage affecting trains and other operations at DIA. Over 530 flights have been delayed and nine have been canceled so far at DIA today, March 18, according to FlightAware.
The electrical outage happened around 9:20 a.m., according to a post on X from the airport’s account. A little after 11 a.m., airport officials announced that the power had been turned back on.
The FAA issued a ground stop for incoming flights shortly after 10 a.m., but that was also lifted shortly after the power returned.
This is the third straight day DIA has experienced hundreds of delays. On March 16, there were 725 flight delays and 138 cancellations, according to FlightAware, with another 397 delays and 35 cancellations yesterday, March 17. Although DIA declined to comment on the reasons behind the mass interruptions those days, they were largely connected to flight delays and cancellations at East Coast airports, which were stuck in extreme winter weather conditions on Monday. The next day, Midwestern airports were stuck in similar conditions, adding to traveler’s problems.
Some of today’s interruptions may be connected to cancellations and delays earlier this week, but the ground stoppage and power outage likely added to those numbers drastically. So far, 531 flights have been delayed at DIA and nine have been canceled, FlightAware data shows.
That’s 1,653 flights and 182 cancellations in three days at DIA — and those numbers are still dwarfed by the number of interruptions at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which is also experiencing hours-long security lines.
The delays and cancellations come as TSA workers continue working without pay during a partial government shutdown, and right in the middle of spring break at schools across the country. According to an announcement earlier this month from DIA, around 1.3 million passengers are expected to travel through security checkpoints from March 11 to March 28, with especially busy days anticipated on Friday, March 20, and Sunday March 22.
Let’s hope the bottleneck clears by then.
