Power outage in ATL

Italianflyer · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:06 pm

Talked to a friend who said the airport went dark about 1340.

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.wsbtv.co ... ntent=news

flyguy84 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:12 pm

Correct. Entire airport appears to be without power. Groundstop in place for incoming traffic.

neomax · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:17 pm

flyguy84 wrote:
Correct. Entire airport appears to be without power. Groundstop in place for incoming traffic.

Any diversions yet?

Corpsnerd09 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:22 pm

neomax wrote:
flyguy84 wrote:
Correct. Entire airport appears to be without power. Groundstop in place for incoming traffic.

Any diversions yet?

I heard DL has at least 8, AA PHX-ATL diverting to DFW..

SuseJ772 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:27 pm

Yikes. Usually fly DL through ATL, but today I am glad I am doing FWA-CLT-TPA instead. That’s going to be a rough day in the ATL

Narfish641 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:31 pm

Ouch!

neomax · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:35 pm

SuseJ772 wrote:
Yikes. Usually fly DL through ATL, but today I am glad I am doing FWA-CLT-TPA instead. That’s going to be a rough day in the ATL

Same for me, I almost went with ATL for my flight today but ended up flying through CLT instead. Looks like that was the right call!

IPFreely · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:39 pm

neomax wrote:
Any diversions yet?

Looks like more delays than diversions. And Delta 15, FRA-ATL, is cancelled.

NWADTWE16 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:42 pm

would love some more clarity on this, if not for me, for my clients. Did backup power not kick in? or is it power back now but everyone needs to go thru security?

JetBuddy · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:44 pm

From the article:

"A Delta Air Lines pilot told passengers a construction crew cut a power line, causing the outage, but an airport spokesman, Andy Gobeil, said officials still weren’t sure."

That's one expensive mistake for sure. If it's a power line supplying power to large parts of the airport, it's probably not a small fix either.

ImperialEagle · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:47 pm

Well, I just watched an AF 773 land and a LH 343 is letting-down, so it looks like int'l arrivals are doing ok.

NWADTWE16 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:49 pm

seems insane to have so much reliant on one line, I am wondering if people are stuck in the underground trams the more I read. Man that would be horrible.

neomax · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:49 pm

JetBuddy wrote:
From the article:

"A Delta Air Lines pilot told passengers a construction crew cut a power line, causing the outage, but an airport spokesman, Andy Gobeil, said officials still weren’t sure."

That's one expensive mistake for sure. If it's a power line supplying power to large parts of the airport, it's probably not a small fix either.

I've been waiting to find a use for this:

ual763 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:51 pm

Delta sure is getting a large dose of karma after their "streak" of no cancellations.

klm617 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:55 pm

ual763 wrote:
Delta sure is getting a large dose of karma after their "streak" of no cancellations.

Not to mention all the pointless attacks on the ME3.

IPFreely · Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:56 pm

ual763 wrote:
Delta sure is getting a large dose of karma after their "streak" of no cancellations.

Not sure what you mean by "after". The streak is ongoing.

neomax · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:04 pm

klm617 wrote:
ual763 wrote:
Delta sure is getting a large dose of karma after their "streak" of no cancellations.

Not to mention all the pointless attacks on the ME3.

Don't forget the disastrous 747 Farewell currently unfolding at DTW.

klm617 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:08 pm

How many hiccups is it going to take before Delta flows its traffic more evenly over it's hubs rather than it's everything Atlanta business practice it currently seems to be following causing massive passenger inconveniences when some thing like this happens.

Triple7Lr · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:20 pm

klm617 wrote:
How many hiccups is it going to take before Delta flows its traffic more evenly over it's hubs rather than it's everything Atlanta business practice it currently seems to be following causing massive passenger inconveniences when some thing like this happens.

Lol well that didn't take long. I think Deltas financials disagree with your sentiments.

cokepopper · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:20 pm

Again the usual suspects starting already.
How about some facts to read what actually happened at the airport instead of the predicable
Nonsensical hatred towards Delta.
As of 15:15 they’re showing a ground stop until 16:00.

hawk2100n · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:22 pm

UA410 DEN-ATL diverted to IAH.

This has nothing to do with DL vs. UA on-time performance and everything to do with ATL having a power outage and hundreds of flights maybe being affected. Stay on topic

neomax · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:23 pm

klm617 wrote:
How many hiccups is it going to take before Delta flows its traffic more evenly over it's hubs rather than it's everything Atlanta business practice it currently seems to be following causing massive passenger inconveniences when some thing like this happens.

I think the only reason it's so concentrated in ATL is because DL likes to brag about having the world's busiest airport and if they spread it more evenly, it's not going to be the world's busiest. That being said, I live in Orlando, and I fly DL a lot because they have an hourly shuttle that runs MCO-ATL, so I never have to worry about missing a flight because I only have to wait an hour max for the next one, and I don't think any other route in Delta's system has a higher frequency than MCO-ATL, so DL's focus on ATL works out extremely well for me. The downside is that when something goes wrong, it goes REALLY wrong. Relying so much on a single hub has major benefits but also major disadvantages.

flyguy84 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:23 pm

ATC states they have over 100 aircraft currently on ground waiting for gates. Ouch. Power is still completely out. No estimated time of resolution.

atcsundevil · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:25 pm

Keep the thread on topic. This topic has nothing to do with another DL vs. UA war. It's ridiculous how these topics always get derailed by petty, off topic comments.

✈️ atcsundevil

N126DL · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:25 pm

DL285 from LHR diverting to CVG
DL296 from NRT diverting to DTW
DL75 from AMS diverting to DTW

763 Flight from DUS, 764 from FCO, and the 763 From LHR appears to be continuing to ATL.

BHM has taken a lot of the domestic diversion. GSP has a PIT and ABE flight. NK diverted a MSP flight to MYR.

DL2628 from LGA going to CHS

tootallsd · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:26 pm

On DL 1375 SAN to ATL. On the ground in Memphis. Delay not specified in terms of duration or offloading.

cokepopper · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:28 pm

From nbc
Airport officials told NBC News that an electrical issue at a Georgia substation “has impacted the power at the airport” and that a large portion of the airport had been affected.

Gatorman96 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:29 pm

neomax wrote:
klm617 wrote:
How many hiccups is it going to take before Delta flows its traffic more evenly over it's hubs rather than it's everything Atlanta business practice it currently seems to be following causing massive passenger inconveniences when some thing like this happens.

I think the only reason it's so concentrated in ATL is because DL likes to brag about having the world's busiest airport and if they spread it more evenly, it's not going to be the world's busiest. That being said, I live in Orlando, and I fly DL a lot because they have an hourly shuttle that runs MCO-ATL, so I never have to worry about missing a flight because I only have to wait an hour max for the next one, and I don't think any other route in Delta's system has a higher frequency than MCO-ATL, so DL's focus on ATL works out extremely well for me. The downside is that when something goes wrong, it goes REALLY wrong. Relying so much on a single hub has major benefits but also major disadvantages.

Many of us have loved ones stuck at ATL due to this outage so we expect to come here to for updates which we can pass to them. Take your middle school bickering about a completely irrelevant topic somewhere else.

neomax · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:31 pm

QR DOH-ATL heading towards ATL reg. A7-BAN.

TW870 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:31 pm

What is the actual issue that is forcing them to reduce the arrival rate? In other words, is power out on some concourses so jetways won't move? Or is power out in customs and immigration so they can't scan passports, etc.? Are all concourses impacted? A friend is on DL64 LAX-ATL having come through from MEL and SYD. Talk about tired!

klm617 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:35 pm

One has to ask themselves at the world's busiest airport why there is no back up this is not the first time this has happened

flyguy84 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:36 pm

TW870 wrote:
What is the actual issue that is forcing them to reduce the arrival rate? In other words, is power out on some concourses so jetways won't move? Or is power out in customs and immigration so they can't scan passports, etc.? Are all concourses impacted? A friend is on DL64 LAX-ATL having come through from MEL and SYD. Talk about tired!

Yes. Complete power outage. No power to jetways.

neomax · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:37 pm

flyguy84 wrote:
TW870 wrote:
What is the actual issue that is forcing them to reduce the arrival rate? In other words, is power out on some concourses so jetways won't move? Or is power out in customs and immigration so they can't scan passports, etc.? Are all concourses impacted? A friend is on DL64 LAX-ATL having come through from MEL and SYD. Talk about tired!

Yes. Complete power outage. No power to jetways.

Ouch, rough day ahead at ATL.

ual763 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:45 pm

So if it was a substation as one poster above put it, why doesn't the airport have it's own generators to provide backup power? I'm by no means an electrician, but backup generators are meant for this very purpose. Or are the generators working but can only supply power for parts of the airport, requiring a reduced arrival/departure rate?

deltairlines · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:45 pm

TW870 wrote:
What is the actual issue that is forcing them to reduce the arrival rate? In other words, is power out on some concourses so jetways won't move? Or is power out in customs and immigration so they can't scan passports, etc.? Are all concourses impacted? A friend is on DL64 LAX-ATL having come through from MEL and SYD. Talk about tired!

All of the above - from what I've heard, all concourses are impacted. Because of that, jetways can't move, so if a plane is on a stand, it can't leave if the jetway is hooked up; likewise if a plane is coming in, the jetway can't get to them, so all gates are blocked off.

And then for FIS, if there is no power, they can't accept incoming international passengers.

Total mess at the airport - glad I flew in yesterday, and hopefully resolved by the time I fly back out tomorrow.

ual763 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:46 pm

It'll be night pretty quickly in Atlanta. If they don't have it fixed soon, EVERYTHING in the air will have to divert if no runway lights.

tootallsd · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:46 pm

Red Coat announcing to our plane. Regular and auxiliary power is out. Two hours until an update.

LTU932 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:47 pm

One question: In the event of a complete power outage, how does the FIS handle passengers in that case? I know for inbound international flights, they can divert to another airport that has CBP, but what if that international flight (if it doesn't have pre-clearance) has already landed the moment the outage occurs? What's the contingency plan?

It's hard to believe ATL has lost all power, I mean, shouldn't they have emergency diesel generators for the most essential of things, like for computers to check reservations and immigration/customs?

kalvado · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:52 pm

ual763 wrote:
So if it was a substation as one poster above put it, why doesn't the airport have it's own generators to provide backup power? I'm by no means an electrician, but backup generators are meant for this very purpose. Or are the generators working but can only supply power for parts of the airport, requiring a reduced arrival/departure rate?

My bet is that backup power is for ATC, ramp control, and similar services. Running those trains on backup would be too much, so airport has to slow down anyway. I would expect TSA and CBP to get backup power - they don't need much, but they are critical. But that is just an uneducated guess.

GSPSPOT · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:52 pm

Triple7Lr wrote:
klm617 wrote:
How many hiccups is it going to take before Delta flows its traffic more evenly over it's hubs rather than it's everything Atlanta business practice it currently seems to be following causing massive passenger inconveniences when some thing like this happens.

Lol well that didn't take long. I think Deltas financials disagree with your sentiments.

I believe the argument is operationally oriented, not financially oriented. You know, getting people where they need to go with minimal disruption.

ual763 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:54 pm

kalvado wrote:
ual763 wrote:
So if it was a substation as one poster above put it, why doesn't the airport have it's own generators to provide backup power? I'm by no means an electrician, but backup generators are meant for this very purpose. Or are the generators working but can only supply power for parts of the airport, requiring a reduced arrival/departure rate?

My bet is that backup power is for ATC, ramp control, and similar services. Running those trains on backup would be too much, so airport has to slow down anyway. I would expect TSA and CBP to get backup power - they don't need much, but they are critical. But that is just an uneducated guess.

Yeah, I don't think it's a "total" blackout as some have said. ATC obviously has some power. But what a mess, regardless. I guess Delta can count themselves lucky, if you can even call it that, that this didn't happen next week instead.

flyguy84 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:56 pm

ual763 wrote:
It'll be night pretty quickly in Atlanta. If they don't have it fixed soon, EVERYTHING in the air will have to divert if no runway lights.

There is not much airborne left. Everything has been groundstopped for awhile.

B747forever · Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:56 pm

At least it didnt happen next weekend during the busy Christmas travel rush.

GoSteelers · Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:04 pm

The tower has its own emergency generator.

ual763 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:11 pm

So, I'm reading the Fox News report on the situation right now. They quote a traveler's tweet. Here's her tweet:

"Literal pandemonium at the @ATLairport with power completely out and electric exit doors unable to open. Baggage claim stuck, passengers can go no where! Which means traffic can’t either. GBI and other law enforcement on site now. Talk about delays!"

What do you think she means by the statement "electric exit doors unable to open"? Surely, she's talking about the terminal train doors, and maybe automatic sliding doors on departure/arrival levels?

flyguy84 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:16 pm

ual763 wrote:
So, I'm reading the Fox News report on the situation right now. They quote a traveler's tweet. Here's her tweet:

"Literal pandemonium at the @ATLairport with power completely out and electric exit doors unable to open. Baggage claim stuck, passengers can go no where! Which means traffic can’t either. GBI and other law enforcement on site now. Talk about delays!"

What do you think she means by the statement "electric exit doors unable to open"? Surely, she's talking about the terminal train doors, and maybe automatic sliding doors on departure/arrival levels?

Most of the doors at the airport are power operated especially entrance/exit.

Web500sjc · Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:18 pm

There are minimal non electric exits form the domestic areas.... on F concourse the exit is controlled by subway style moving gates (electric) on the T side it’s either a electric revolving door or a 3 story escalator.

mikelive · Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:19 pm

It's gonna be a long night @ the call center for this WN agent...

ual763 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:19 pm

And now, the ground stop is extended until 5pm Eastern.

jetblueguy22 · Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:23 pm

I don't think people understand the massive amount of generators that would be needed to keep the airport running... We're talking about the largest airport in the world by passengers, to keep operations normal using generators would take an insane amount of backups, that just aren't needed 99.9% of the time..

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