More than five years after an 11-hour power outage at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a U.S. Government Accountability Office study found power outages over the last eight years have affected most of the 30 commercial airports surveyed.
The massive 2017 blackout at the world’s busiest airport paralyzed flights, caused confusion and chaos and disrupted travel connected to Atlanta from around the world.
Power outages like the one at Hartsfield-Jackson and a more recent one at a terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in February can result in “significant air travel disruptions,” the report said.
Power outages can disrupt baggage handling, concessions, escalators and elevators, check-in, boarding, parking and communications. In at least 11% of outages reported, the power loss also caused flight delays and cancellations, according to the study.
From 2015 through 2022, 24 commercial airports said they had an unplanned loss of power for at least five minutes a total of 321 times. Nearly a quarter of the outages lasted four hours or longer. Some of the outages were caused by electrical infrastructure failure, while others were caused by severe weather such as lightning or a hurricane.
Nearly all of the airports surveyed said they are pursuing projects to improve their electrical infrastructure, according to the GAO. One major airport undertook a project to improve its electrical infrastructure in response to the 2017 Hartsfield-Jackson outage.
Airport officials at Hartsfield-Jackson were also under pressure to shore up their backup power. They developed plans to install a bank of backup generators strong enough to power the entire airport.
In 2020, Georgia Power agreed to add back-up power generators at Hartsfield-Jackson at no cost to the City of Atlanta, under a settlement of claims from the power outage. That saved nearly $100 million in capital expense, according to Hartsfield-Jackson.
Delta, the biggest tenant at Hartsfield-Jackson, had vowed to seek reimbursement for the power outage that cost the airline $40 million.
Elsewhere around the country, four airports are installing microgrids that can independently generate, distribute and store power, according to the study.
“Since airports draw large amounts of power from the electricity grid, independently powered airports could alleviate some strain on the electricity grid during times of high demand and reduce the risk of utility power outages,” the study said. Some airports also anticipate increased demand over the next 10 years from electric vehicles.
A microgrid feasibility study commissioned by Hartsfield-Jackson envisioned a microgrid using a combination of solar panels battery storage, backup generators and other energy sources. Challenges with installing microgrids high costs include regulatory and technical barriers.
The Atlanta airport already has solar panel installations on some buildings, including one installed on an airport building in a taxi hold lot, an array at private terminal Signature Flight Support and one recently installed on top of a cargo building used by DHL Express. A resolution being considered by the Atlanta City Council would also add the airport to a city program for solar panel installations.
Some airports in the GAO study noted that solar panels can require ample space and special approvals to prevent glare from affecting air traffic controllers.
The Federal Aviation Administration in a 2019 order required key airports including Hartsfield-Jackson to have backup power sufficient to maintain runway operations for a recommended four hours, and to power a control tower, radar, runway lights and other landing systems.
The FAA has expanded a grant program to make funding available for energy supply redundancy and microgrids, the GAO report said.
The FAA does not require airports to have backup power for areas of the terminal for travelers, or for ticketing, baggage handling and concessionaires, the GAO said. Local building codes may have life safety requirements for evacuation of people with emergency standby power.
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