Olympic Pipeline Leak Starting to Cause Flight Issues at Seattle-Tacoma International

A leak in a pipeline that delivers jet fuel to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is starting to cause flight issues for passengers traveling through the airport, with no end yet in sight.

Almost two weeks ago, officials shut down the Olympic Pipeline—a 400-mile pipeline that connects SEA, along with Portland International Airport (PDX), to an oil refinery in Washington State—due to a leak.

Even after two weeks since the discovery, the leak’s origins remain a mystery despite BP, the pipeline’s operator, working “around-the-clock” to excavate the pipeline and find its source. The situation grew serious enough that Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared an emergency last week, waiving state regulations that limit the number of hours commercial motor vehicle operators can drive when transporting jet fuel.

“This declaration will help the airport maintain its fuel supply while the pipeline is offline and limit disruptions to travelers,” Ferguson said in his state of emergency.

Officials at Seattle-Tacoma have also been telling all inbound airlines to fuel up to capacity prior to arriving, a practice known as “ferrying” fuel.

With the pipeline shut down, and airlines now solely relying on the airport’s fuel reserves and fuel coming in via tanker trucks, airlines are starting to make other plans ahead of what’s anticipated to be the busiest travel week of the year.

Delta Air Lines said this week that it was scheduling a fuel stop for some domestic long-haul departures.

“Due to limited fuel availability at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), customers traveling on international long-haul flights may experience schedule adjustments,” Delta said. The airline has issued a travel waiver for all long-haul flights departing from Seattle through Nov. 28, allowing passengers to book a new flight scheduled on or before Dec. 17.

No other airline has yet issued a travel waiver or declare that it would start scheduling a fuel stop for long-haul flights out of Seattle-Tacoma. That includes the airport’s biggest player, Alaska Airlines, which has the most daily flights out of the airport. Still, that could change quickly if the situation continues, particularly with how busy all U.S. airports will be this week.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said on Friday that it expects to screen more than 17.8 million people from Tuesday, Nov. 25, to Tuesday, Dec. 2, a tick higher than the same period last year. It is also projecting that more than 3 million travelers will pass through security checkpoints on Sunday, Nov. 30, alone, which would make it one of the top 10 busiest days in TSA history.