United Airlines flight cancellations, delays slam Denver airport ahead of holiday weekend

With the extended Fourth of July weekend approaching, United Airlines travelers are now experiencing similar problems that triggered anxiety for Southwest Airlines’ passengers over the last winter holiday season.

Amid a wave of severe weather in the northeastern and midwestern U.S., Chicago-based United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL) canceled 783 flights and delayed 1,314 flights nationwide on Tuesday, June 27, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Yesterday, Denver International Airport had the fifth most canceled and delayed flights by origin and destination. A total of 164 flights were canceled and 369 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware. All but 11 of Tuesday’s canceled flights at DIA were from United, which is the airport's largest carrier.

Nationally, the airline had significantly more canceled and delayed flights than its competitors over the past three days. Republic ranked No. 2 in canceled and delayed flights on Tuesday, with 379 flights canceled and 191 flights delayed.

So far on Wednesday, United has canceled 424 flights and delayed 742 flights. DIA has seen 85 cancellations and 183 delays for the day.

As the country’s third-busiest airport and United’s second-busiest hub, DIA is taking a heavy brunt of the flight cancellations and delays with thousands of passengers stranded at the airport or nearby hotels throughout the week.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had to delay and cancel some flights in Denver because of the severe weather in the Northeast, which has also caused our flight crews to be out of place,” Russell Carlton, a spokesman for United Airlines said in a statement on June 28.

United has seven hubs in the areas experiencing extreme weather, including Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Carlton added that in response to the delays, the airline has increased staffing to restore flight attendant schedules and is offering workers “triple pay” to pick up open trips.

“United is fully staffed in Denver,” Carlton said. “Our employees on the ground are working extra hours to get our customers to their destinations.”

While United has been adamant in denying that the cancellations and delays were attributable to labor shortages, CEO Scott Kirby in a recent statement blamed the Federal Aviation Administration’s lagging staffing levels for the agency's inability to deal with inclement weather.

Last week, the U.S. Transportation Department’s inspector general said that the FAA had taken only limited steps to address labor shortages despite repeated warnings from the air traffic controllers’ union that there are not enough workers to handle air traffic.

Responses from DIA and United

In responding to the cancellations and delays, United has provided cots inside the concourses and DIA staff have been providing blankets for passengers stuck at the airport.

Stephanie Figueroa, a DIA spokeswoman, said the airport is directing passengers affected by cancellations and delays to United Airlines.

Figueroa also cautioned that DIA expects the upcoming holiday weekend — from June 28 to July 5 — to be very busy, with more than 550,000 passengers expected to pass through the airport's security checkpoints.

DIA expects the busiest days for travel to be Thursday, June 29, Friday, June 30 and Sunday, July 2.

“These days are expected to see over 70,000 passengers [a day] move through security screening,” Figueroa said. “This is a 12.6% increase from the same period in 2022.”

Figueroa added that travelers should arrive at DIA at least two hours ahead of their boarding time during the busy travel seasons.

Carlton said that for passengers whose travel has been disrupted, the United mobile app offers personalized rebooking options, bag tracking information and meal and hotel vouchers for delayed or canceled flights.

Just last week, United rolled out a PR push to encourage travelers to use its app when seeking customer service due to flight disruptions.

Carlton added that customers who have had flights canceled will receive refunds if they no longer wish to travel.

Stacking up to Southwest

Despite United’s woes over the recent wave of cancellations, they so far fall short of the problems Southwest Airlines encountered during the winter holiday season in late December last year.

On Tuesday, Dec. 27 alone, Southwest canceled more than 2,500 flights — including more than 300 in DIA. Those cancellations were prompted by extreme winter weather within Southwest’s flight network.

The Dallas-based airline is DIA's second-largest when ranked by market share, according to Denver Business Journal research, but Denver is the fastest-growing airport operation in Southwest’s network and has grown to become the airline’s largest hub.

United is the largest private employer in Denver with nearly 10,000 employees. Earlier this year, United announced a large-scale expansion in a bid to further strengthen its local market.