Atlanta airport power outage halts flights in and out of N. Texas
DALLAS - The power is back on at the Atlanta airport after a fire caused an outage. And at Dallas Love Field some people are still hoping to be one of the “lucky ones” to get a flight out today.
Georgia power said a fire caused extensive damage in an underground electrical facility, impacting substations serving the airport.
Atlanta’s mayor explained why it took so long for workers to address the problem.
"Something that everybody at home needs to know is Georgia Power's personnel could not access the tunnels until we made sure that the fire, which was an electrical fire, was completely put out. And because of the types of fumes that came through the tunnel as a result of the fire, we had to take some time before the team from Georgia Power could access the tunnels,” Mayor Kasim Reed said.
Although it is now restored, travelers were put in a bind all over the country including at DFW Airport and Dallas Love Field. People not on non-stop flights were diverted to other airports and stuck there.
Winston Hines was supposed to be on a flight from Love Field to Atlanta but didn’t trust that the outage would be fixed in time for takeoff.
"I just paid for my Southwest Airlines ticket for $500 one way just to fly from here to Houston, Houston to Charlotte, and then get a $75 car and drive from Charlotte down to my car,” he said.
The holiday travel nightmare continues for Marine Anthony Boyd, who flew from Lubbock to Dallas to get on a flight to Atlanta for a cancer treatment Monday morning. It’s been canceled since he can’t get there.
At Dallas area airports some flights to Atlanta remain canceled. Airlines are encouraging travelers to check their flight status before showing up for a flight in or out of Atlanta.