Power restored at Atlanta airport after outage grounded hundreds of flights
Power has been restored to the world's busiest airport in Atlanta after an outage caused travel chaos for passengers, with more than a thousand flights cancelled during the power cut.A power outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport grounded operations on Sunday, stranding thousands of passengers. The outage lasted nearly 11 hours before power was finally restored around 11:45 p.m. E.T.During the outage, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop on flights, meaning planes are held at their departure points. Planes also were not departing the airport. The airport handles some 275,000 passengers a day. Travelers posted photos on social media of fellow passengers sitting on the airport floor, dark departure halls, and staircases that were brought up to planes to deboard passengers after the electricity outage prevented the use of gates and jet bridges. Airlines had canceled 1,173 flights to or from the Atlanta airport as of 10:55 p.m., according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) said it canceled more than 900 mainline and regional flights due to the outage and diverted 48 flights to other airports. It also canceled 300 flights scheduled for Monday. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) canceled the remainder of its flights to and from the Atlanta airport on Sunday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said some international flights were sent to other airports.Power was restored to terminals and for "all essential" airport activities shortly before midnight said Georgia Power, the airport's electricity provider. The company had said it "believed" the outage was caused by a fire that damaged an underground facility and affected substations serving the airport.Tweet More than 104 million travelers passed through Atlanta's airport last year, making the Delta Air Lines hub the world's busiest for passenger traffic, according to Airports Council International. The airport handles around 2,500 arrivals and departures, according to the airport's figures.The lack of electricity complicated efforts to get passengers off planes. Such delays can be costly for airlines. Airlines can face fines of up to $27,500 per passenger if a domestic flight is on the tarmac longer than three hours. "Any flights that exceed the tarmac delay rule will start running up big numbers," said Gary Leff, a travel expert who writes the View from the Wing blog. He added that compensation given to travelers could be used to lower fines. — CNBC's Ted Kemp contributed to this article Power has been restored to the world's busiest airport in Atlanta after an outage caused travel chaos for passengers, with more than a thousand flights cancelled during the power cut. A power outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport grounded operations on Sunday, stranding thousands of passengers. The outage lasted nearly 11 hours before power was finally restored around 11:45 p.m. E.T. During the outage, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop on flights, meaning planes are held at their departure points. Planes also were not departing the airport. The airport handles some 275,000 passengers a day. Travelers posted photos on social media of fellow passengers sitting on the airport floor, dark departure halls, and staircases that were brought up to planes to deboard passengers after the electricity outage prevented the use of gates and jet bridges. Airlines had canceled 1,173 flights to or from the Atlanta airport as of 10:55 p.m., according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) said it canceled more than 900 mainline and regional flights due to the outage and diverted 48 flights to other airports. It also canceled 300 flights scheduled for Monday. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) canceled the remainder of its flights to and from the Atlanta airport on Sunday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said some international flights were sent to other airports. Power was restored to terminals and for "all essential" airport activities shortly before midnight said Georgia Power, the airport's electricity provider. The company had said it "believed" the outage was caused by a fire that damaged an underground facility and affected substations serving the airport. Tweet More than 104 million travelers passed through Atlanta's airport last year, making the Delta Air Lines hub the world's busiest for passenger traffic, according to Airports Council International. The airport handles around 2,500 arrivals and departures, according to the airport's figures. The lack of electricity complicated efforts to get passengers off planes. Such delays can be costly for airlines. Airlines can face fines of up to $27,500 per passenger if a domestic flight is on the tarmac longer than three hours. "Any flights that exceed the tarmac delay rule will start running up big numbers," said Gary Leff, a travel expert who writes the View from the Wing blog. He added that compensation given to travelers could be used to lower fines. — CNBC's Ted Kemp contributed to this article
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