Fog limited visibility for most people around Puget Sound on Monday, but it may have been Sea-Tac Airport that felt the brunt of its force.
How did Monday's fog impact travel in and out of Sea-Tac Airport? Here’s a look at the numbers rounded up from Sea-Tac Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Alaska Airlines.
Between 1:00 a.m. and about 12:45 p.m. when the fog first began to lift, the airport saw 124 departure delays and 55 arrival delays. Eight flights were diverted to other airports, including Spokane, and 22 flights were canceled, according to the FAA.
During the morning, delayed departures were running 67 minutes behind while arrivals ran around 49 minutes, but most flights made it out.
To put all that into perspective, last Monday Sea-Tac Airport handled 1,200 flights in and out.
Also see | Can fog be bad for your health?
The FAA found itself forced to issue ground stops, meaning departing flights that had not left their originating airports headed to Sea-Tac Airport were held to cut down on the amount of traffic handled in Seattle.
As of Monday evening, the FAA says arriving flights are averaging nearly three-hour delays.
As usual, the advice is to check with your airline about the status of your flight whether you’re the passenger or somebody picking up somebody from the airport.
This fog episode didn’t just start on Monday, it began late last week.
Alaska Airlines says it had to find space for 3,500 passengers from canceled flights over the weekend and book them on other flights.
Alaska is certainly not alone as lines at the airport were long, with waits of around 30 minutes, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The goal is to get passengers through security in less than 20 minutes. The TSA says the capacity to screen passengers was somewhat reduced on Monday after losing two screening lanes due to the construction of more automated lanes.
Fall is considered a good time to do construction at the airport because it’s traditionally less busy after the summer rush.
That said, the airport continues to grow year round, making it harder and harder to find any “slow” periods for construction.
