Travelers trying to get to Las Vegas Thursday continued to face some tough luck.
A rare heavy fog has socked in the area the past two days, causing the Federal Aviation Administration to implement a “ground stop” for flight coming into McCarran International Airport.
Delays for arriving flights are averaging 3 hours and 33 minutes, the FAA said.
A Southwest flight scheduled to leave Denver for Las Vegas at 8:50 a.m. departed at 12:17 p.m. and the 11:45 a.m. departure left at 2:39 p.m. Passengers on the 12:40 p.m. flight were dealing with a four-hour delay.
With earlier flights backed up, Southwest canceled the 3:25 p.m. and 5:05 p.m. departures. It also cancelled the first flight out at 7 a.m.
Spirit Airlines canceled its 11:29 a.m. departure out of Denver to Las Vegas and is showing its 6:45 p.m. flight leaving at 8:32 p.m.
Denver International Airport’s largest carrier, United Airlines, snuck its morning flight in early, but has also struggled with delays since.
The 3:56 p.m. departure is set to leave at 6:30 p.m., but the last flight of the day, at 6:58 p.m., was expected to face a shorter delay.
“We only have one direct flight left for the day between Las Vegas and Denver. It’s showing that it is running about and hour and a half late due to the FAA ground stop,” United Airlines spokeswoman Mary Ryan said.
Frontier Airlines appears to be faring better than most. Its 1:57 p.m. departure to Las Vegas left at 2:09 p.m.
DIA spokesman Heath Montgomery said the airport isn’t seeing any impacts beyond the delays and cancellations specific to Las Vegas.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or
