Cyberattack Causes Major Delays at Seattle-Tacoma

DALLAS — Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) faced significant disruptions on Saturday due to a "possible cyberattack" that caused an extensive internet and web systems outage at the Port of Seattle. The incident resulted in hundreds of flight delays and cancellations, affecting many travelers.

The Port of Seattle reported that the outages began early Saturday morning, and authorities quickly isolated critical systems to mitigate the impact. Efforts are ongoing to restore full service, but as of 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, 247 flights had been delayed and six canceled, according to FlightAware.

SEA and the Port of Seattle have not provided an estimated time for when normal operations will resume. The airport is working closely with authorities and airline partners to assist travelers affected by the disruption. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for updated flight information and to allow extra time for airport procedures.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not comment on the situation, directing inquiries to SEA officials instead. However, as an update to the situation at SEA, the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center reports today that a Traffic Management Program is in place due to weather conditions, specifically low ceilings.

This program is causing some arriving flights to be delayed by an average of 33 minutes, with general arrival delays of 15 minutes or less. While no destination-specific delays are currently reported, departing flights may also be impacted. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for the most up-to-date flight information.

Update

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport officials confirmed Sunday that an apparent cyberattack took down websites, email and phone services at the airport and Port of Seattle this weekend, according to the seattletimes.com.

A spokesperson for Alaska Airlines (AS) said staff was manually sorting over 7,000 bags due to “a majority” of checked bags missed their flights this weekend, avoiding further delays. However, airlines that use the SEA's common use gates had "to handwrite boarding passes and manually search bags."

There's no official word yet on where the cyberattack came from. Stay tuned to Airways for further developments.