More snow in Seattle means more cancellations and delays at Sea-Tac

[brooklynite]

Source: Seattle Times

Another round of snow and continued pandemic-induced staffing problems brought an unwanted distinction to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: for the second day in a row, the airport had more cancelled flights than any other airport on the planet.

As of 10 a.m. Thursday, airlines had canceled 289 arrivals and departures at Sea-Tac Airport — more than a quarter of all of Thursday’s scheduled flights, and the highest number of any airport in the world — according to the website FlightAware.com.

The cancellations, which scrapped 148 departures and 141 arrivals, bring Sea-Tac’s cancellation total to more than 1,450 since Sunday, when heavy snow on top of ongoing staffing issues began snarling domestic air travel, according to the flight tracking site.

Thursday’s cancellations brought more frustration for many travelers who had already been hit by cancellations that were starting to surge even before Christmas.

Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/more-snow-in-seattle-means-more-cancellations-and-delays-at-sea-tac/

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It is barely above freezing, and every night since Sunday has been in the 20s.

[caraher]

1. My son had two canceled flights

Eventually got out after a long delay tonight

[deelee]

2. An airline called ALASKA is having trouble dealing with 3 inches of snow and temps in the 20s

Or are they using that as the excuse to not compensate travelers for their delays?

[brooklynite]

3. An airline called ALASKA isn't running the airport.

There are three key elements adding to the delay.

1. At these low temperature, and with high moisture in the atmosphere, every plane needs to be de-iced before takeoff, a process that takes about 20 minutes per plan, plus time for the de-icing trucks to reload. Anchorage has plenty of de-icing equipment because they have four-five months of low-temperature conditions. Seattle doesn't.

2. As I said on Monday (when I got out of Seattle after a four hour delay) they're generally unprepared for snow and cold weather. Road conditions are terrible and transit falls apart so its harder for crews to get to the airport.

3. Seattle is spiking in COVID cases. Test positivity is now at 50%. So fewer staff are available to work.

[jmowreader]

4. Be nice to Alaska Airlines. They take good care of their passengers.

They also have a lot of experience in dealing with crappy weather...in addition to serving Alaska, they serve six airports in the wind tunnel that's named Montana. If Alaska is having trouble, things are worse than you thought.