A possible cyber attack prompted massive delays at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport early Saturday morning – and passengers were asked to check with their airline for information.
As of 8pm Saturday evening, the travel disruption was still happening with 247 flights still delayed and six flights canceled, FlightAware reported.
Earlier in the day, the airport alerted travelers on X.com that there were ‘internet and web systems outages’ that began early Saturday morning, that was possibly due to a a cyberattack at the Port of Seattle, including Sea-Tac airport.
In the social media post, the authorities said, the Port isolated critical systems and is in the process of working to restore full service.’
The flight information ‘departures’ board listed all the cancelled and delayed flights
There were hundreds of stranded travelers on Saturday afternoon at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport due to flight delays and cancellations due to possible cyberattack’
The flight information board, listed some of the flights cancelled due to the outage including: Chicago, Denver, Raleigh-Durham, Dallas, Toronto, Charlotte, Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Houston, among others.
Those flights with significant delays were Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa, among others.
Officials were keeping those affected in the loop with frequent updates.
‘We are working closely with appropriate authorities and partners to help travelers who may be impacted,’ they said.
They offered some advice: ‘If you are traveling today, please check with our airline partners for travel information and allow extra time to get to SEA and to your gate.’
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is ranked 8th among U. S. airports for passenger activity and 21st for air cargo
The airport covers 2,500 acres and has three parallel runways. It is the primary international airport serving Seattle and its metropolitan area in Washington State
Officials explained that scale of the cyberattack at The Port of Seattle has yet to be disclosed, nor when systems will be fully functional again, as per the Lynwood Times.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released the following statement to King 5 News.
‘TSA is aware of the outage to the Port of Seattle’s internet service and is working with its partners at the Port,’ as per the statement.
‘There is no impact to TSA’s operations at the security checkpoint and TSA continues to screen passengers using its robust procedures. Passengers should check with their airlines for information on their flights.’