Thick fog is causing delays at Denver International Airport on Tuesday morning, with arriving planes held in the air for more than an hour before they can land. Denver is one of the four busiest airports in the US, handling more than 82 million passengers last year, so a slowdown there rarely stays in Denver.
The fog rolled in overnight across Denver and the Colorado Front Range, and by early Tuesday visibility at the airport had dropped to about a quarter of a mile, with clouds sitting roughly 100 feet off the ground. To keep planes safely spaced in those conditions, air traffic control cut the number of flights that can land each hour, and as of mid-morning New York time, arriving flights were being held for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, with delays still growing. A dense fog advisory for the area runs until 9 a.m. local time, though fog doesn't always lift on schedule.
Denver · Tuesday, Oct. 27
Fog Is Slowing Flights at Denver
Arriving planes are being held in the air for over an hour before landing, and delays are still growing.
Contrail
Why It Matters Even If You're Not Flying to Denver
Denver connects to more US cities nonstop than any other airport, and it's a major hub for United, Southwest and Frontier. That means a lot of the planes and crews stuck circling Denver this morning are scheduled to fly somewhere else next. When they arrive an hour late, the flight after that leaves late too, and the delays can ripple out to airports that have clear skies all day. If your flight today connects through Denver, or your plane is coming from there, it's worth keeping an eye on it even if the weather where you are is perfect.
Like the fog that slowed flights in Amman on Monday, this kind of delay usually clears up once the fog lifts, but the knock-on effects can last into the afternoon.
If You're Flying Today
Check your flight status in your airline's app before you leave, and turn on notifications so you hear about changes right away. If you're connecting through Denver and your first flight is running late, your airline's app will often rebook you automatically onto a later connection, so look there before joining a line at the airport. If you're picking someone up, check their flight's actual landing time, not the scheduled one, and wait in the cellphone lot rather than circling.
