JAMAICA, Queens (WABC) – A power outage at JFK Airport impacted travelers on Thursday, with some flights being turned around and diverted to their points of origin, and the problem continued on Friday.
The airport said Terminal 1 will remain closed Friday due to electrical problems as the Port Authority continues to work to restore flight operations.
The disruption at Terminal 1 prompted airport officials to reschedule some flights to arrive and depart from different terminals as many passengers were stranded. Many of the international flights that are still able to arrive will do so at Terminal 4.
According to Flight Aware, there are a total of 129 delayed and 25 canceled flights.
Power outage at JFK airport affecting some inbound and outbound flights
In fact, the updates on the flight boards were handwritten because the electronic boards weren’t working.
The Port Authority said the power outage was caused by an electrical panel failure, which also caused a small single fire overnight.
The power outage is currently affecting the terminal’s ability to accept incoming and outgoing flights. Planes already en route to JFK at the time of the outage were diverted to airports such as Newark and Boston.
Portions of Terminal 1, which serves several international airlines including Air France, Korean Air and Lufthansa, will be powered by a generator.
The TSA said it looks forward to power being restored to resume normal checkpoint operations. They currently have two out of eight checkpoint tracks in use.
The Port Authority and its terminal operators are working together to accommodate affected flights using other terminals.
Travelers are urged to check with their respective airlines for further details.
The lucky ones boarded buses Thursday night for Newark Liberty International Airport, where they hoped to catch replacement flights, but most people just had to figure it out, little knowing how long it would be before things got back to normal.
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