Power outage results in major travel delays at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
Officials said the outage started just after 8 a.m., and affected Terminals 3 and 4. Terminal 3 was quickly restored to full operations, however, power remained out in portions of Terminal 4 for some time before it was fully restored during the afternoon. FOX 10’s Bailey Miller reports.
PHOENIX – A power outage that impacted two of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport‘s terminals, as well as American Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights, has been resolved, according to TSA officials.
Officials said the outage started just after 8 a.m. Terminal 3 was quickly restored to full operations, but power remained out in portions of Terminal 4 for hours.
Power outage impacting Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor
“In preparation for the upcoming busy travel season, APS [Arizona Public Service] crews were onsite at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport performing scheduled maintenance. During the course of this work, a piece of electrical equipment failed causing a power outage at both terminals and injuring one of our crew members. The employee was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The health and wellbeing of our crew is of the utmost importance to us, and we will continue to monitor the employee’s condition. Power was restored at Terminal 3, and we continue to work safely and quickly to restore Terminal 4. Outage restoration updates can be found on our online outage map at aps.com/outagemap,” stated APS’ Yessica Del Rincon.
The APS worker injured has been released from the hospital.
Outage caused many flight delays
American Airlines’ Derek Walls stated, “American’s operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are currently being impacted by an unexpected power outage in Terminal 4. We appreciate our customers’ patience as we work with the airport to restore service as quickly as possible. Customers whose travel plans are impacted will be re-accommodated on alternate flights once power has been restored to the terminal.”
As of 1:30 p.m. Arizona time, American Airlines stated there have been 17 cancellations and 83 delays at Sky Harbor.
Sky Harbor spokesperson Eric Everts says American and Southwest airlines are starting to allow flights to depart and land. Other flights that had to be diverted are now heading to Phoenix as planned.
Travelers who are flying Monday are urged check their flight status before they come. Everts says delays are likely into the evening hours.
“Sky Harbor had more than 200 delays, more than 90 cancellations and more than 15 inbound flights diverted to other airports. American and Southwest, our two busiest airlines, were the most severely impacted,” stated Everts.
In the midst of the chaos, lines formed inside the airport, as people tried to figure out when or if they can fly out.
“I’ve been in line for hours now,” said one person.
“It is frustrating. I have been trying to get another flight out, but I can’t. Stuck,” said another person.
Some travellers are left stranded in Phoenix.
“It is a lot to figure out where we are going to stay. We don’t have a rental car. We returned it,” said Lauren Stevens.
Besides stranded travellers, the outage left the terminal dark, and bathrooms out of order.
“People were really upset,” said Stevens. “A lot of people were yelling, taking off their masks, upset. We went to multiple lines, called the airline, couldn’t get through. Called several times, finally got through.”
For some travellers, the issue now is it is taking them at least another day to get to their destination.
“I get to use a vacation day for not a very fun vacation day,” said one traveller.
You can check your flight status by visiting https://www.skyharbor.com/Results/FlightSearch.
A power outage was reported at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Nov. 8. (Danielle Miller)
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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