Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) is urging Labor Day travelers to arrive early as it continues to deal with the aftermath of a cyberattack that has severely disrupted operations. The airport has been struggling since the attack, which was first discovered on August 24th, leaving critical systems offline and forcing employees to resort to manual methods, including the use of dry-erase boards to guide passengers.
As the busy Labor Day weekend approaches, Sea-Tac has sent out warnings to passengers, advising them to arrive at the airport earlier than usual to account for potential delays. Although the airport has remained operational since the attack, the effects have been significant. Flight and baggage display screens remain down, and some airlines are still manually sorting through bags, leading to longer wait times.
The airport announced that while some baggage sorting operations have been partially restored, full recovery is still in progress. The situation is particularly challenging for international travelers and those flying with low-volume carriers like Frontier, Spirit, Sun Country, and JetBlue. These airlines have been unable to access the airport’s common-use online systems, forcing them to issue manual boarding passes and luggage checks, which has resulted in longer lines and delays for their customers.
“We’re working with airline partners to start the process of turning on and testing systems for our common-use carriers (international and lower-volume airlines). We’ll continue to monitor the status of these tests,” the airport stated.
Sea-Tac has also advised passengers to use their airline apps to obtain mobile boarding passes and to check their baggage digitally before arriving at the airport. Passengers on affected airlines are urged to check with their carrier regarding the recommended arrival time at the airport, with the general advice being to arrive at least two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights.
The cyberattack has also impacted the Port of Seattle, which owns Sea-Tac, along with parks, container terminals, and other infrastructure. The Port’s website remains down as of Friday afternoon, further complicating recovery efforts. Despite repeated requests, neither the Port of Seattle nor Sea-Tac has commented on whether the incident involved a ransomware attack. The attack was swiftly responded to by the Port’s IT team, who isolated critical systems and called in federal authorities to assist with the recovery.
As of now, no ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Sea-Tac. However, in a related incident, the Hollywood Burbank Airport in California was named by the BlackSuit ransomware gang on their leak site. Despite these claims, Hollywood Burbank Airport has confirmed that their facilities continue to operate normally and that they are working with authorities to ensure the smooth functioning of their systems.
The situation at Sea-Tac remains fluid as authorities and airport officials work to restore normal operations. Travelers are advised to stay updated through official channels and to plan for additional time at the airport during this busy holiday weekend.
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