Airport power restored, but traffic still disrupted
ATLANTA — The nation’s air-travel system struggled to get back on schedule Monday after a weekend fire and blackout at the world’s busiest airport forced the cancellation of over 1,500 flights just days before the start of the Christmas rush.
Stranded travelers sat on the floor, slumped in chairs or stood in long lines at ticket counters a day after the underground blaze knocked out electricity and crippled Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for about 11 hours.
A spokesman for Delta Air Lines, which has its hub in Atlanta and is by far the biggest carrier at the airport, said most of its delayed passengers were booked on other flights scheduled to leave Monday.
Spokesman Michael Thomas said the airline should be “largely if not completely” back to normal by Tuesday, well before the big travel weekend ahead of Christmas Day.
The fire broke out Sunday afternoon next to equipment for a backup system, causing that to fail, too. Power wasn’t fully restored until about midnight.
During the blackout, thousands of travelers waited on planes or in the terminals. People with disabilities had to be carried down stairs and escalators in the chaos.
The control tower did not lose power because it has a separate electrical feed, and planes that were in the air and close to Atlanta were allowed to land. But other inbound flights were diverted to other cities, and outgoing flights were halted.
Anthony Foxx, who served as U.S. transportation secretary under President Barack Obama, was among the many travelers stuck for hours on a plane on the tarmac. He blasted airport officials, saying the problem was “compounded by confusion and poor communication.”
“Total and abject failure here at ATL Airport today,” he tweeted, adding that there was “no excuse for lack of workable redundant power source. NONE!”
Georgia Power CEO Paul Bowers issued an apology and blamed the fire on a failure in a switch gear.
Delta canceled about 1,000 flights Sunday and 400 Monday. American Airlines canceled around 50 but said it was back on a normal schedule by late morning. Southwest, United and JetBlue also reported scores of cancellations and delays.