A suspected cyberattack knocked internet, phone, email and other systems out 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 it has not affected the TSA's ability to screen passengers.
Some airlines, including Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines, both of which are based at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, reported no service interruptions due to the outage.
Still, the outage affected the Port of Seattle's baggage sorting system, prompted airlines to warn passengers not to check bags if possible to avoid potential delays, and also affected lost property 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 security lines and long wait times at baggage claim and security checkpoints. Terminal screens were also installed throughout the airport, making it difficult for some travelers to see which gate they were assigned to.
In a Facebook post, the airport advised passengers to 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.
They waited in line for 45 minutes to check in their bags, and then as they made their way through the airport, they noticed that none of the screens displaying flight information were working.
The screens next to each gate showing the next boarding flight were also not working, so airline staff relied mainly on intercoms to inform passengers of their destinations.
Once on board, the pilot told passengers there would be a delay because crew had to manually check baggage tags, Ng said.
After landing on Maui, two of the family's luggage was lost and another family lost all of their luggage, including car seats for their young children, 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.
