officials on Monday said they fixed a baggage system glitch that led to backups, separation of travelers from their luggage, and hundreds of flight delays affecting all airlines. A “mechanical issue” arose around 7:15 a.m. Sunday and was resolved, DIA spokeswoman Ashley Forest said. But the brief breakdown led to backlogs, reverberating, forcing a scramble. Denver airport crews worked with airlines to process travelers’ bags at airline ticket counters. Denver deployed police, and drew in federal Transportation Security Administration dogs, in addition to city employees, in the scramble to move backlogged bags, Forest said. Shortly before noon on Monday, airport operations were deemed “normal” and “our baggage system is working properly,” she said. “Airlines are working hard to get back in the air and to their destinations. We ask for passengers to please continue checking with their airlines for the latest update on their bags.” The glitch led to more than 480 flight delays on Sunday, according to the flight-tracking website. On Monday morning, a snowstorm hit Colorado, causing more than 220 additional delays and 65 cancellations of flights in and out of DIA. And the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes as a safety precaution also has caused cancellations. A hole formed in a Max 9 fuselage on Friday night after that plane took off from the airport in Portland, Oregon. Airlines crews now are conducting inspections required by the FAA. For United Airlines, the grounding of the Max 9 aircraft – Unitded owns 79 of them – caused the bulk of the flight cancellations on Sunday, United spokesman Russ Carlton said. “And the driving factor for the delays was the breakdown of the Denver airport’s baggage system.”

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