Updated: Dec. 1, 6 p.m.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Philadelphia International Airport is using a temporary generator to restore electrical power to Terminal D, according to a statement from the airport that went out on social media at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Crews had been working since about 3 p.m., when a power outage was reported in the terminal.
Terminal D gates and ticketing computers are now operating and concessions are open. All United, Delta, JetBlue, Air Canada, Alaska Air and Spirit passengers are advised to check with their airlines for their current flight status.
Power at all other terminals, including those serving American and Southwest, was uninterrupted.
Sunday, traditionally the busiest day of the Thanksgiving holiday travel window at PHL, was about the worst day for a power outage to happen. The airport came into the two-week holiday stretch expecting more than a million departing and arriving passengers.
The outage follows a similar outage early Friday and Saturday, also in Terminal D.
Original article follows:
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Sunday is expected to be the busiest day of the Thanksgiving holiday travel window at Philadelphia International Airport. Airport officials say it’s important to plan ahead to allow for more traffic and longer lines. But there are some things passengers just can’t plan for — such as the power outage at Terminal D late Friday that caused delays for several airlines.
“We were anticipating at least 100,000 people to fly in and out of PHL — so it’s definitely the busiest day of travel throughout the holiday,” said airport spokeswoman Heather Redfern Sunday morning.
In all, airport officials say, they anticipated more than 1 million passengers to fly in or out between Nov. 22 and Dec. 3.
“This year is 12% higher than last year and only 2% lower than 2019,” Redfern said.
While volume is slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels, Redfern says, it pays to plan ahead during a busy holiday rush like this.
That’s something Rori from South Philly says is top of mind for her. On Sunday, she had just returned home from visiting family in Boston, and she said traveling up and back this year was a breeze.
“It really wasn’t that bad this year. Coming home and leaving. … It was easy going through TSA,” she said.
Why? Because she has a system, she says. It starts with leaving early to avoid long lines.
“I normally try to get here at least an hour early. … You come a little bit earlier than your flight, and then you can sit and relax.”
Redfern backs her up on this: “As always, we suggest passengers arrive at least two hours before their boarding time.”
And another key to sailing through TSA, she says: “Go to the TSA website to learn what you can bring through security.”
However, the Terminal D power outage Friday into Saturday threw everyone for a loop. United and Delta were two of the airlines most affected, but Spirit, Alaska Air and Air Canada had delays as well. Redfern said some flights had to be redirected to other gates. No flights were canceled because of the outage, but there were delays.
Situations like this are why you show up to your flight early, said Kimberly, a passenger, who was waiting for a flight with her daughter on Saturday.
“l mean, this is travel in 2024. And that's why you come to the airport early, I guess. … I feel empathy for people that have meetings, or traveling with little kids or have disabilities or medical issues. That's always a bigger challenge. But we're pretty chill.”
PHL officials said crews worked to restore power at Terminal D since a little before 5 a.m. Saturday.
Avery, a passenger, was waiting with her family since about 4:30 a.m.
“It's been chaos. When we got here, the lights were still out, so we've gotten a little bit better,” she said. “But they've been good, bringing out snacks and drinks and coffee and everything.”
Power was restored by 1:30 p.m., and lines were long as airline staff worked to get flights rescheduled and passengers checked in.
Shaltreece, a passenger, said she was happy to see everyone working together to help others.
“Nice strangers that get information, they're sharing. So everybody's just kind of like a one-team, one-goal approach right now,” she said.
“And all the people that should be having chairs available are able to sit down. There are wheelchairs out. So everything they could possibly do to keep us informed and comfortable as possible, they're doing.”
No other terminals were affected. Redfern says the airport is still investigating the cause of the outage.
Correction: KYW originally misstated when the outage first occurred. The current article reflects that change.