DENVER – A ground stop for all arriving flights at Denver International Airport lasted for about 30 minutes before it was lifted by the Federal Aviation Administration once power was restored at the airport late Wednesday afternoon.
The power outage was reported by DIA via Twitter shortly after 2:30 p.m. Airport officials said some flights were experiencing delays due to the outage, but did not provide an exact number on the number of flights affected.
Power outage at DEN causing flight delays. Please check with your airline for current flight status.
— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) July 14, 2021
The trains to the gates and security were still operating, an airport spokesperson said, adding they were working with Xcel Energy to bring the power back up.
The ground stop meant flights coming into the Denver could. still land at the airport, but the flights that hadn't yet left their destinations would remain there, and very few, if any, departures would occur until further notice, a spokesperson for DIA said.
Departing flights were still taking off, but travelers were still encouraged to check their flight status with their airline as delays were still possible.
Power at DIA was back up just before 4 p.m. The airport spokesperson said shortly before then that it did not appear the power issue was on airport property but that Xcel was still investigating the cause.
Xcel said in a statement just before 6 p.m. that its crews were working to verify that an equipment failure caused the outage.
“We have a lot of redundancy built into the system around the airport as well as a documented plan in place when electric power issues occur. The airport also has a backup system that they use in case of an outage,” the company said. “We understand the that losing power, especially at a large facility like the airport, is an inconvenience. We appreciate our customers patience as we worked to resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible.”
The airport also said that incoming thunderstorms could cause further delays.
A spokesperson said about 80 flights were affected by the power outage earlier in the day.