A rough day for tens of thousands of travelers at Sea-Tac Airport. By 4:30 Monday afternoon, more than 460 flights were delayed, and more than 200 flights were canceled. Most of those affected were Alaska Airlines flights.
Indeed, when Alaska Airlines sneezes, Sea-Tac catches cold.
Nearly 14,000 travelers saw their flights on Alaska Airlines alone canceled. At 5 p.m., the reader board inside the airport showed some flights were still canceled.
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A group of 11- and 12-year-olds were practicing their cheers while weathering the storm of delays at Sea-Tac. Putting off their Meeker Citizens of the World Student Exchange trip to New Zealand, now in its 30th year.
"We have been delayed many times on many flights," said Charles Jorgenson, president of the exchange program. "But never more than two or three hours at the most."
Tuscany Brown-Reed, 11, said she was prepared. "We've been preparing for nine months," she said.
But her dad was shaking his head no.
"Well, it's been a bit of a scramble," said Mike Reed, "a bit of a scramble. But she's ready."
As to whether he's ready? "I don't know," he said. "I don't know. She's going to come back a different person and that's kind of nervous-making."
A lot of passengers' nerves were frayed today. Chopper 7 showed why. So many flights were diverted here so quickly from smaller airports, there wasn't room for the flights scheduled to arrive.
And then, of course, there was the ice.
"The aircraft that are in the gates have to make sure that they get deiced before they can leave," said Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper. "And then aircraft behind them can come in."
It is perhaps the validation Sea-Tac needed, six months after asking to increase its deicing budget to $2.2 million over five years.
It was all part of Tera Williams' saga of trying to fly home from Las Vegas.
"At first our flight was delayed 30 minutes," said Williams. "And then we all boarded the plane. And they were like, 'Oh, we're not cleared to leave until 10:30.’ And we had to leave the plane. And then we got back on the plane at like 9:30 because we were cleared to leave. And then we sat on the runway because we were no longer cleared to leave. And then we left like at 10:50. But we made pretty good time. And we're here now."
Some passengers did send out angry tweets while being forced to wait on the tarmac before making it to a gate.
But most people seemed to take the delays in stride.