Why the Chiefs' flight to Denver was delayed 4 hours. It wasn't just the ice.

Pete Grathoff, Sam McDowell and Blair Kerkhoff, The Kansas City Star on Jan 4, 2025

Published in Football

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The Chiefs’ charter plane to Denver finally took flight after nearly a four-hour weather delay on Saturday.

Kansas City International Airport halted its flight operations early Saturday afternoon because of icy conditions on its runway and taxiways.

That left the Chiefs sitting aboard their plane for nearly four hours beyond their planned time of departure. The plane eventually left KC for Denver at 5:20 p.m. Saturday.

The team attempted to leave earlier in the day, moving up its departure time in hopes of beating the storm. But mechanical issues with the team’s charter plane prevented an earlier takeoff. That kept in place the team’s typical afternoon departure the day before a game — until icy conditions intervened.

The Chiefs were prepared to take off shortly before KCI suspended operations for what amounted to 2 1/2 hours.

The Chiefs-Broncos game is scheduled for Sunday at 3:25 p.m. Central Time at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. The Chiefs have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC, prompting them to sit starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but the Broncos need to beat the Chiefs to ensure they will make the playoffs.

Much of the Chiefs’ playoff path rests on Saturday’s two NFL contests.

The league’s last cancellation of a game occurred in Week 17 of the 2022 season, by the way. The Bills-Bengals game was called off following a severe injury to Buffalo’s Damar Hamlin.

Like the game scheduled for Sunday in Denver, that Bills-Bengals contest had playoff implications. The Chiefs and Bills would have met in Atlanta, if each had advanced to the AFC championship game.