Cyberattack Snarls Air Travel in Seattle

The problems began on Saturday morning, according to the Port of Seattle, which operates the airport.

"System outages indicating a possible cyberattack," the airport said Saturday on X. "The Port isolated critical systems and is in the process of working to restore full service and do not have an estimated time for return."

Monday morning, the port's website was still down. Inside the airport, passengers waited in long lines for baggage while information screens for airline arrivals and departures and gate changes remained dark, the Seattle Times and local television stations reported.

According to KIRO-TV, the incident had affected a handful of international airlines, forcing them to issue tickets by hand since web-based systems were compromised. Volunteers wearing green shirts were pressed into service to help answer travelers’ questions.

In a press conference Sunday, airport officials said they didn't know what, if any, passenger information was compromised in the event.

Port officials are working with federal authorities to investigate the incident.

There have been no reports of mass flight cancellations or delays caused by the outage, although travelers were encouraged to check with their respective airlines before heading to the airport and to either print out their tickets in advance or use the digital versions on their smartphones.

Travelers were also warned that baggage drop-off would also be slower and encouraged to use carry-on bags only because the outage may have impacted the airlines’ baggage sorting system.