SEATTLE (AP) — A suspected cyberattack knocked out internet, phone, email and other systems at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for a third day Monday while Port of Seattle officials worked to investigate the outage and fully restore service.
“We are working around the clock to bring essential systems back online and mitigate the impact to passengers,” Lance Little, the airport’s managing director of aviation, said at a press conference on Sunday.
Little said the airport is investigating with the help of outside experts and is working closely with federal partners, including the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection. Officials have not released details about the full extent of the outage, but Little said the outage is not affecting the TSA’s ability to screen passengers.
Some airlines, including Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines, both of which are based at Seattle International Airport, reported no service interruptions due to the outage. But the outage affected the Port of Seattle’s baggage sorting system, leading airlines to warn passengers not to check bags if possible to avoid potential delays, and also affected lost property handling systems.
The airport also warned travelers to allow extra time at the airport and, when possible, to use airline mobile apps to obtain boarding passes and baggage tags.
Still, many travelers faced longer-than-usual lines at security and long wait times at baggage claim and security. Terminal screens were also installed throughout the airport, making it difficult for some people to see which gate they were assigned to. In a Facebook post, the airport said passengers should look for airport staff dressed in green for assistance.
Among those affected were 46-year-old Tai Ng and his family, who described the chaotic conditions he experienced when he arrived at the airport on Sunday with his wife and four young children before catching a flight to Maui.
Passengers waited in line for 45 minutes to check in their bags, then as they made their way through the airport they noticed that none of the screens displaying flight information were working, including the screens next to each gate showing upcoming boarding flights, forcing airline staff to rely primarily on intercoms to tell passengers where to go.
Once on board, the captain told passengers there would be a delay because crew members had to manually check baggage tags, Ng said. After landing in Maui, two of a family’s luggage was never received and another family lost all of their luggage, including their young child’s car seat, Ng said.
“I had to go to customer service,” he said. “Sure enough, I turned around and there were about 30 people in the same boat as us in line. It was chaos.”
Ang’s family eventually managed to retrieve two of their missing luggage that day, but he said navigating the chaos during the trip was still stressful.
“Every airline and airport should have backup processes in place,” he said.
The airport said in a Facebook post Sunday that port teams are making progress but there is no set timeline for when the system is expected to return to normal operations.
