‘Back up and running’: Flights resume at Sacramento International after computer disruption

Airlines at Sacramento International Airport resumed normal operations Monday after a massive weekend internet disruption caused numerous flight delays and cancellations, and forced fliers to wait for hours in lines just to get their bags checked.

Several airlines, notably Southwest, United and Delta, lost internet access when a car hit a power pole Saturday night, disrupting AT&T fiber optic lines that provide internet access at the airport to scan tickets and automate check-ins, according to airport officials.

Southwest customers were hardest hit when the airlines canceled 20 flights on Sunday.

Shelby Brown, a traveler who was stuck in the airport Sunday, described the situation as “an absolute nightmare.” She said she waited for more than three hours just to check her bags.

The outage occurred at about 10 p.m. Saturday and lasted until 9 p.m. Sunday. Southwest cleared delayed passengers from its check-in counters by 10:30 p.m.

“It looks like things are back up and running and we’re in good shape today,” Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said on Monday at midday. “We appreciate our customers’ patience as we get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.”

Sacramento airport officials report their computer systems were unaffected, but the airport’s public wi-fi system slowed over the weekend as passengers attempted to connect with it when their own internet cell phones’ connections went down.

The outage came during one of the busiest weeks in airport history. Mott said the airport will conduct an after-event discussion with airlines about what went wrong and what could be changed in similar future events.

Airport officials have warned fliers that parking lots may fill over the holiday season. All lots had spaces available as of Monday midday, however.

This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 12:02 PM.