Dulles, Reagan Fliers Headed To Atlanta Face Cancellations

WASHINGTON — Dulles International Airport and Reagan Washington National Airport customers expecting to fly to or through Atlanta's airport Sunday night or even Monday face canceled flights after a massive power outage at the world's busiest airport. A fire at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport appears to have been the cause of a power outage that canceled flights and darkened the world's busiest airport for hours on Sunday. The ripple effects of canceled flights will be felt at airports nationwide during one of the busiest times of the year heading into Christmas.

Power at the Atlanta airport, where stranded holiday-season travelers were reportedly using cellphones to light their way through terminals, was expected to be restored by midnight, according to officials from Georgia Power. In a news release Sunday evening, the power company said the fire "caused extensive damage" in an underground Georgia Power facility. The blaze had to be extinguished by fire crews before Georgia Power workers could enter the facility to assess damage and begin fixing it.

The outage, which started shortly after 1 p.m., canceled all flights both across the country and internationally that were headed into the airport. The earliest a plane is likely to take off for Atlanta will be 7 p.m. ET Monday, according to the FlightAware website.

At 8 p.m. Sunday, Dulles or National officials had no specific directions for passengers ticketed to Atlanta. The airports' website and Twitter feeds shared instructions from the FAA to check with individual airlines for flight status. Southwest and Delta Airlines said they had canceled all Atlanta flights Sunday night.

The Federal Aviation Administration had set a ground stop for flights into Hartsfield-Jackson Sunday due to the outage. That means all flights to Atlanta were being held at their departure points nationwide, now until Monday evening unless things improve. Pilots on Twitter shared photos that they said were of power coming on at two Atlanta terminals about 7:30 p.m.

FlightRadar24 says that more than 600 flights to and from Atlanta have been canceled because of the power outage at the airport. FedEx, UPS, and other cargo airlines at nearby cargo facilities are still operating.

International arriving flights that were in the air when the airport lost power were diverted to other airports, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol office said on Twitter.

Atlanta Airport officials urged employees and passengers to follow the facility on Twitter for updates; passengers should check with their airline for flight updates.

Delta Airlines, which is based in Atlanta, says it has cancelled all remaining operations for Sunday, Dec. 17, and has waived its rebooking fee. Passengers who want to cancel a trip because of the outage and delays are entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your ticket.

Since 1998, Hartsfield-Jackson has been the busiest airport in the world. Handling 275,000 passengers a day, it serves 150 U.S. destinations and more than 75 international destinations in 50 countries. There are, on average, nearly 2,500 arrivals and departures there every day.

Holiday Air Travel Tips
For those traveling by air, TSA is expecting to screen more than 40 million passengers and crew through Jan 2. Passengers should plan to be at the airport two hours prior for a domestic flight and three hours prior for an international flight.

The TSA is also reminding passengers of new screening procedures being introduced in all airports. The new procedures involve requiring passengers to place electronic devices larger than a cellphone in bins for X-Ray screening.

The TSA marks the holiday travel period as between Dec. 15 and Jan. 2. The busiest travel days for air are expected to be Dec. 21 and Dec. 22. The Tuesday through Friday after Christmas and the Tuesday after New Year's Eve are also expected to be busy.

Passengers traveling with gifts are advised not to wrap the gifts because agents will need to unwrap them in case they trigger an alarm.

For more travel tips, check out the TSA holiday travel blog.

Image via Patch file of Dulles International Airport