The Port of Seattle is still working to resolve a potential cyberattack that began Saturday morning, with many travelers facing either missed flights or significant delays.
KIRO 7 headed to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Saturday evening and spoke with international travelers who are experiencing significant delays due to internet and network outages.
Passengers Maria Camelon Price and her daughter Alexis waited hours in line to check in for their flight, saying: “They have to manually enter everyone’s information instead of the whole global system. It’s frustrating, and there are people who have been here for over three hours now.”
The Price brothers knew about the power outages in advance, and even planned for them.
“We thought we got there early enough, two and a half hours early, and we were still here — so just getting through the crowd was a challenge because the whole hall was packed earlier,” Alexis Price said.
Meanwhile – some passengers were not aware of the service interruptions until after they landed.
Passengers Lena Frank and Jan Lentz told KIRO 7 they missed their connecting flight to Vancouver after sitting on the plane for two hours waiting for the gate. They thought their two-and-a-half-hour layover would be enough time to make the flight, but in the end, they had to rebook their flight.
Rebooking was particularly difficult – with phone lines and Wi-Fi down throughout the airport.
“We looked at so many places to find people to talk to, like the airline or whatever, but we couldn’t find anyone. And that hurts a little bit because you feel lost,” Lentz said.
Port of Seattle location The service also remained down and inaccessible on Sunday, leaving travelers unable to access their flight status directly from the webpage.
The Port of Seattle also experienced an outage in its phone systems at its marine facilities, and shared a list of phone numbers people can call with any urgent matters.
For Station 91 operations, call 206-605-8152. If the call is not answered, leave a voice message and call the number again within 5 minutes.
— Port of Seattle – ⚓️ (@PortofSeattle) August 24, 2024
At approximately 9:45 a.m. Sunday, Seattle-Tacoma Airport shared this update:
System outages continue at the Port of Seattle, including Seattle International Airport. Port crews continue to make progress in restoring systems to normal operation, but there is no estimated timeline for recovery.
SEATAC urged travelers to give themselves extra time to get to the airport and boarding gate and to check with their airline for specific travel information. Travelers were also asked to complete online check-in and obtain digital boarding passes before arriving at the airport, and to stick to carry-on luggage if possible.
The airport added that the terminal screens at the airport are also experiencing technical difficulties, stressing that passengers should check with their airlines for the latest gate information.
-Give yourself extra time to get to SEA and to your gate.
-If station screens are experiencing technical issues displaying flight information, please check with your airline for the latest gate information.— Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (@flySEA) August 25, 2024
Seatac says it is working closely with authorities and relevant partners to assist any passengers who may be affected.
KIRO 7 will continue to update this story as more information becomes available about the outage and estimated time of recovery.
©2024 Cox Media Group
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”