Over 500 DIA Flights Canceled on Monday

You may want to double-check your flight before driving to the Denver International Airport today.

DIA canceled over 500 flights on Monday, March 23 with no meteorological explanation as to why.

Flightware announced on Monday that United Airlines canceled 41% of their incoming and outgoing DIA flights.

According to the Denver Post, SkyWest Airlines canceled 130 flights and Southwest canceled 106 DIA flights on the same day.

With clear, sunny skies and a chance of light rain, it's very unclear as to why sixteen airlines have canceled 547 DIA flights, however, DIA spokeswoman Alex Renteria suggested to the Denver Post that airlines could be cancelling flights because not enough seats are being bought due to concerns about the coronavrius.

Interested in trying to clear up the mystery myself, I searched online as to why so many flights have been grounded, but to no avail. The only explanation I can think of aligns with Renteria's: COVID-19. As of Monday at 10:30 a.m., Denver had 125 confirmed coronavirus cases.

According to a recorded DIA media line, the high number of cancellations are not because of any problems with DIA operation. On Monday, the recording stated that “All airport operations are normal."