A leak in BP’s Olympic Pipeline has starved Seattle-Tacoma International Airport of jet fuel, forcing Delta Air Lines and other carriers to cancel or reroute most long-haul departures through November 28. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency to waive trucking-hour limits and expedite alternative fuel deliveries.
Airlines have ordered inbound aircraft to “tank up” before landing and, in some cases, to make tech stops in Spokane or Anchorage. Passengers holding Thanksgiving-week tickets can rebook without fare differences if travel is completed by December 17, though change-fee waivers extend further.
![Jet-Fuel Shortage at Seattle-Tacoma Triggers Long-Haul Flight Cancellations Over Thanksgiving]()
Airport officials say short-haul domestic flights are largely unaffected, but trans-Pacific services to Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore face the heaviest disruption—critical routes for West-Coast exporters and tech firms. Corporate-travel teams should advise employees to connect via Los Angeles, San Francisco or Vancouver until full pipeline service resumes.
The incident highlights the fragility of U.S. aviation-fuel logistics. Sea-Tac moves nearly 1 million passengers during Thanksgiving week, and even a partial outage exposes companies to missed project kick-offs, cargo delays and pricey re-routing.
BP crews have excavated about 200 feet of pipe and hope to complete repairs “within days,” but federal inspectors must sign off before a full restart. Businesses with time-critical shipments should monitor NOTAMs and airline-operations bulletins for rolling schedule changes.
Airlines have ordered inbound aircraft to “tank up” before landing and, in some cases, to make tech stops in Spokane or Anchorage. Passengers holding Thanksgiving-week tickets can rebook without fare differences if travel is completed by December 17, though change-fee waivers extend further.
Airport officials say short-haul domestic flights are largely unaffected, but trans-Pacific services to Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore face the heaviest disruption—critical routes for West-Coast exporters and tech firms. Corporate-travel teams should advise employees to connect via Los Angeles, San Francisco or Vancouver until full pipeline service resumes.
The incident highlights the fragility of U.S. aviation-fuel logistics. Sea-Tac moves nearly 1 million passengers during Thanksgiving week, and even a partial outage exposes companies to missed project kick-offs, cargo delays and pricey re-routing.
BP crews have excavated about 200 feet of pipe and hope to complete repairs “within days,” but federal inspectors must sign off before a full restart. Businesses with time-critical shipments should monitor NOTAMs and airline-operations bulletins for rolling schedule changes.
