‘Power bump’ strands thousands at Phoenix airport (PHOTO, VIDEOS)
Passengers at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in Arizona were literally left in the dark when power went out at two of the terminals. American Airlines and Southwest are reporting delays as they try to get computers back online.
A “partial power outage” affected Sky Harbor terminals 3 and 4 on Monday morning, starting at 8:05 am local time. The airport initially reported a “power bump,” while one Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent told a local journalist passing through that a transformer explosion was to blame.
Alert: We’ve had a power bump and are working to get all systems back online. Good idea to check flight status before coming to the airport. pic.twitter.com/uruVEKZAGK
— PHX Sky Harbor (@PHXSkyHarbor) November 8, 2021
A first. Flying out of #Phoenix and a power outage has all of us waiting in the dark at security. TSA says the outage is impacting the whole airport. @SouthwestAir@PHXSkyHarborpic.twitter.com/RrkrU97mEG
— Suzanne Spencer (@suzspencertv) November 8, 2021
The outage has particularly impacted American and Southwest airlines, which operate out of the affected terminals. Power has since been restored to Terminal 3, though Terminal 4 is still affected. Southwest reportedly resorted to checking passengers in manually, as no phone or internet service was available.
Can anyone see anything about Sky Harbor airport in Az? We’re on complete lock down here.I’ve never seen lines this long. All flights are grounded we are not being told really anything pic.twitter.com/bsVB3v1IBJ
— Todd Breyfogle 🇺🇸 (@sharkslayerrr) November 8, 2021
A sea of people waiting to check in for their flight at terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Lines have been at a standstill for hours due to power outage. Check your flight status if flying today! The board is already lighting up with delays. #fox10phoenixpic.twitter.com/xTuYQcj5ir
— Danielle Miller FOX10 (@Fox10Danielle) November 8, 2021
As of 10 am local time, work was still ongoing to restore power to Terminal 4, according to Arizona Public Service (APS). The utility company said “a piece of electrical equipment failed” and that one of their workers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Outage restoration updates for Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport can be found on our online outage map at https://t.co/zPyDmCyixU. pic.twitter.com/b4bHWD4tGl
— APS (@apsFYI) November 8, 2021
Sky Harbor (PHX) is the eighth-busiest US airport, serving over 45 million passengers a year before the Covid-19 pandemic. Southwest is based at PHX, while American Airlines uses it as a regional hub.
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