Eager to fly out of Sea-Tac? Just wait

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Friday, March 02, 2001, 12:00 a.m. Pacific

Eager to fly out of Sea-Tac? Just wait

by Andrew Garber Seattle Times staff reporter Long flight delays at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport could continue for days, and perhaps weeks or even months, because of earthquake damage to the control tower.

The overhead monitors that are still working at Sea-Tac were full of delayed and canceled flights yesterday, and the Federal Aviation Administration reported delays of up to four hours for arriving aircraft. Alaska Airlines, which carries the most passengers out of Sea-Tac, canceled 14 flights yesterday because of the earthquake, out of its normal 150 daily departures. Planes had "significant delays," said Jack Evans, a spokesman for the airline.

He said travelers should "get here early and be prepared to wait."

Michael Feldman, head of facilities at Sea-Tac, eyed the damage yesterday afternoon. "We're looking at months" to repair the tower, he said.

Airlines advised people to call or check company Web sites to see if flights are delayed or canceled.

Ashley Frederick of Redmond tried that. It didn't work. He arrived at 11 a.m. yesterday to catch a flight to Denver, assured by telephone that the 1 p.m. flight was on time. Instead, it was canceled. "It would've been nice if they'd alerted us," he said.

Frederick was camped out with a friend on his luggage in the main terminal reading a book, waiting for a shot to leave on an 8 p.m. flight.

Arriving flights are delayed because the Sea-Tac control tower was wrecked by the earthquake. The FAA brought in backup equipment in a trailer, but that could only handle about half the normal number of flights.

There are no restrictions on departures. But with fewer planes landing, airlines can't offer as many flights out of Seattle. Sea-Tac typically has 1,200 flights daily, and yesterday it was down to about 600 flights.

Airport officials aren't sure when things will get better.

Damage to the airport terminal was barely noticeable yesterday, just a few cracks in plaster walls and some blank display screens.

The control tower is a different matter.

Workers were busy welding struts and covering windows with plywood in the tower yesterday. The earthquake blew out huge panes of green-tinted ¾-inch-thick glass, and sheared metal supports in half. It also caused equipment and lights to fall from the ceiling.

The six controllers in the tower had to dodge debris while landing planes and diverting flights to other airports during the quake.

A new control tower already under construction is about two years from completion.

Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the FAA, said the agency is looking at ways to salvage the situation.

One option is to repair the wrecked tower, or to speed construction of the new one.

In the meantime, he said, the FAA is doing what it can to increase the number of incoming flights Sea-Tac can handle with the temporary equipment. Workers are putting the flight-control center on top of a hill and jacking it up higher by placing it on top of another trailer. That will put flight controllers about 80 feet up, Kenitzer said. The wrecked tower was 100 feet high.

The added elevation will let the airport take in more planes, but it still won't be able to handle normal volumes, he said.

Scott Ingham, a spokesman for Northwest Airlines, echoed the comments of many people dealing with Sea-Tac's troubles: "We're playing it one day at a time."

Andrew Garber can be reached at 206-464-2595 or agarber@seattletimes.com.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/wa/gotoArticle?zsection_id=268466359&text_only=0&slug=quakeseatac02m&document_id=134271422

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 02, 2001


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