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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Colorado snow causes more travel havoc


Snowplows clear Interstate 25 in Denver. The storm forced numerous flight cancellations Thursday.Associated Press
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

DENVER – United Airlines, hit hard by weekend storms in the Midwest, canceled dozens more flights Thursday as the second storm since Christmas threatened to pile 20 inches of new snow on Colorado.

Up to 8 inches of new snow were expected in Denver, which set a record for its snowiest Christmas with the nearly 8 inches that fell Tuesday.

United canceled 168 flights nationwide Thursday mostly because of the weather in Denver. That’s about 5 percent of the airline’s daily schedule.

“There will be impacts in other parts of the system and we’re doing our best to accommodate everyone,” United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.

At Spokane International Airport, one inbound and one outbound flight were cancelled as a result, an airport spokesman said.

Thursday marked the fourth straight day that United had canceled flights. The Chicago-based carrier grounded fewer than 5 percent of its flights Wednesday as it moved crews to deal with schedules disrupted days earlier when bad weather hit O’Hare International Airport. McCarthy said the airline had recovered from those delays before the storm moved into Colorado.

Meanwhile, Skybus Airlines said Thursday it was operating normally after two days of cancellations due to maintenance issues with a pair of its seven planes.