Hundreds of flights canceled as ice closes Sea-Tac runways – KIRO 7 News Seattle

SEATAC, Wash. — Hundreds of flights have been canceled at Sea-Tac International Airport on Friday as an ice storm arrived in Western Washington and caused the closure of runways.

“At about 2 a.m. the airfield received a dump of freezing rain that quickly solidified on the surfaces,” Port of Seattle spokesperson Perry Cooper told KIRO 7 at 3:30 a.m.

At 6:57 a.m., the airport tweeted that one runway had been reopened after being deiced.

The other runways will remain closed indefinitely. At 11:25 a.m., the airport tweeted that crews would work on deicing more runways as temperatures increase.

Alaska Airlines said that all of its flights out of Sea-Tac were canceled until noon; however, travel will still be backed up.

“Since midnight, we’ve canceled more than 270 flights scheduled to operate in Portland and Seattle and additional cancellations and delays are expected. Due to very full flights over the next several days, it is likely to take multiple days to accommodate guests who need new flights. Our contact centers are experiencing long hold times as they try to help thousands of guests, and we’re working around the clock to reunite guests with their bags. We strongly encourage guests to reassess their travel plans due to limited availability,” the airline said in a post.

Meanwhile, as of 1:06 p.m., FlightAware showed that 554 flights were canceled and 212 were delayed.

As of 2 p.m., FlightAware said that all inbound flights to Sea-Tac were being held at their origin until 5 p.m.

Some airlines pre-canceled flights ahead of the storm.

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