Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Sam Penrod ReportingThe weather in Denver has improved and the airport has finally reopened.
But thousands of people are still stranded and hoping to get to their Christmas holiday destinations.
Airline officials say it could take days to clear the backlog from the airport shutdown, caused by a blizzard.
Some experts are questioning why the emergency plans didn't work to keep the airport operational.
Mike Boyd, Aviation Analyst: "In thirty-five years in this business, I've never seen an airport needing to be shut down for twenty-four hours after a nineteen inch snowfall. There's something really screwy going on."
Complicating the problem caused by two-thousand canceled flights are rain storms east of the Mississippi River. They're causing delays in Chicago, Cleveland, Washington and other cities. Many travelers are stuck at Salt Lake International.
The passengers we are talking to, surprisingly have a lot of patience with what is going on. They are trying to spread some holiday cheer, as best as they can right now.
Mike Smith, Denver Resident: "You can't control the weather, you just have to hope that everything works out and if I don't make it today, I'll make it tomorrow, or the next day, I'll be there."
We found for most air travelers going out of Salt Lake, the delays are few, basically from the storm we are getting this afternoon.
But for passengers with tickets on either United or Frontier Airlines, they are facing cancelled flights today, because most of those flights have a connection through Denver.
While Mike Smith has been waiting in line, he's been talking with other passengers about the mess they are in.
Mike Smith, Denver Resident: "I think most of these folks are going back to Denver or through Denver for other flights across the country, I left Tuesday evening to come here for a couple of days to visit family before Christmas, and then it hit Wednesday. I had an early flight this morning to get back which is now cancelled that means I'm on standby for the rest of the day. "
But the airlines are warning if you are flying standby, expect to be disappointed. In fact, the reservation line at United Airlines tells callers that if you don't have a confirmed ticket for either today or tomorrow, to just stay home and don't bother going to the airport.
The airlines expect the backlog to catch up within a couple of days, but that may be too late for people who are trying to make it in time for Christmas.
