Extreme heat to blame for grounded flights at Las Vegas airport

Airlines canceled more than 30 arrivals and about 20 departures today

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Steve Marcus

A Southwest Airlines passenger jet taxis to a gate after landing at McCarran International Airport Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.

Fri, Jul 9, 2021 (5:04 p.m.)

Dozens of flights into and out of Las Vegas have been canceled today because of the blistering heat.

A spokesman for Southwest Airlines, the carrier for most of the canceled flights at McCarran International Airport, said in an email that the heat caused the cancellations. McCarran confirmed this on Twitter.

“Lots of questions about airlines’ flight cancellations today,” a post from the airport reads. “(The Federal Aviation Administration) implemented a traffic management program due to weather conditions, causing some delays.”

Airlines canceled more than 30 arrivals and about 20 departures today.

The FAA terms a “Traffic Management Program in effect” for McCarran. The agency also said this is causing some arrivals to be delayed by an average of roughly an hour and a half.

For some visitors who had planned to visit Vegas for a blockbuster entertainment weekend, that’s causing disappointment or a quick change of logistics.

One Twitter user said he would be driving from San Diego to Vegas to catch comics Dave Chappelle and Joe Rogan tonight at the MGM Grand Arena.

Another won’t be coming at all.

“Just had my birthday weekend to see @joerogan tonight canceled,” @NeoOmnipotent posted on Twitter. “Southwest canceled everything. 175 people from our flight can’t get there now.”

Southern Nevada is in the grip of another record heat-wave, with temperatures hitting 115 degrees at the airport as of 4 p.m. The blistering heat is expected to last until next week, with the possibility of tying or breaking Vegas’ all-time high of 117 degrees this weekend and temperatures above 110 degrees forecast through Tuesday.

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