Wx. mess at DEN today/ UA

[brucek]

At long last we Denverites are getting some significant moisture, and then some! (The city is virtually shut down at this time). We've been hearing the wx forecasters now for days talking about this.

But it seems that UA has some wx forecasters that see things differently. DEN is a major hub for UA, and they must have thought they could beat the storm with their east push through here before mid-day yesterday 3/18. There are now some 4,000 stranded passengers at DEN since mid-day yesterday, almost all who are UA lay-overs that missed their outbound flights (DEN is now closed, was yesterday afternoon and may be still tomorrow AM). Food is running short at the concessions (all roads in and out of the airprot are shut down, and the city is on a "snow alert"- enforcable restrictions on travel). Even the famous white "sail" roof has a seperated outer seam from the weight of snow. Most pax will be stranded until at least tomorrow PM.

But back to airline ops: Who makes the call to cancel traffic into an area (especially a large hub with the possibilty of large collateral problems) when massive storms like this are forecast? I understand that other airlines cancelled service into DEN yesterday AM (they are all in the minority here at DEN), but UA must have thought they could get away with this.

Bruce.

 

[metrodriver]

Kind of sounds like DTW all over again. It' usually dispatch that makes decisions like that and of course they have to answer to a D/O. I think airlines gamble on the fact that the weather forecast might be wrong. I worked a customer service job at DFW for a while and passengers are just rediculous when flights get cancelled, even with tornadoes around! Of course they are really upset when the weather at the airport turns out to be not so bad and planes do land, but rampworkers are held inside because of lightning (a bag is more important than someone's life apparently). So either way passengers will be unhappy, and for that reason I guess the airlines just let the show go on till it comes to a grinding halt.

 

[canadflyau]

This was not a UA conspiracy, there are many pax from Frontier and the other airlines stuck at DEN.. When you get to the airlines you will realize that by nature the airlines are reactive instead of proactive about wx, especially in an area of the country (DEN) where wx is most accurate as a nowcast, and forecast are very unreliable. Try explaining to a pax that they will prematurely close DEN b/c of a forecast of heavy snow while conditions were still travelable and you will be hearing them screaming for the Pax Bill of Rights, but now they can attest, "yep, they kept trying to operate until it just wasn't possible anymore.." like what Metro just posted.

Usually they (DEN) do a good job of keeping up with the snow, but what hampers them is the shear size of the airport... being so spread out has its advantages, but in this case the size was a major disadvantage. In this systems case it was the ramp that caused the probs first w/ac getting stuck while taxiing.

 

[General Lee]

This storm will really cost UAL, Frontier, and Great Lakes a lot of $$$. This really isn't a good time for any airline, especially them.
The only winners are the De-icers that make huge $$ on Type 4 fluid sprays.

Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[canadflyau]

GLA doesn't use Type 4... but your right, an expensive day and a half.

 

[F9 Driver]

I understand that we did fairly well getting our folks on their way.

We got out (stuck in PDX now) around 16:00 yesterday after bathing in a bunch of type 4 goop. We diverted our inbounds and reprotected them elsewhere, and got our outbounds out - late but out.

One of the local TV news casts had a passenger with his cell phone on a UAL flight who was stranded on the ramp for over seven hours! We held on the gate for several hours with the door open rather than on the ramp and the pax seemed fairly happy. I know that this isn't an always an option, but the passengers like to know that they have the option of walking home at any time

I don't have a clue how much this w/x cost us, but it aint cheap!

 

[Cardinal]

Great Lakes is saying with conviction that they're flying tomorrow (Thursday) I, however, don't forsee being able to drive to the airport. Heck, couldn't drive to the end of the road even if I wanted to.

 

[skypine69]

Hey F9 Driver....are you going to be leaving in the morning???
I am trying to commute to work tomorrow (yeah I know good luck right!) Even if you do leave I am sure you will be full. I guess my company has some planes at other outstations that I may go to in the morning and try to get the jumpseat.

 

[skyking1976]

I finally got out of Denver Centennial (APA) Thursday night. Some of the snowbanks are even taller than any of the airplanes that park here.

Skyking