Major U.S. Airport May Run Out of Jet Fuel

An ongoing fuel crisis is causing a major issue for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, so much so that the state government has intervened.

On Nov. 11, the Olympic Pipeline was shut down due to a leak in Snohomish County. The 400-mile-long pipeline, operated by BP, supplies gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products to key places in Washington and Oregon, including Sea-Tac Airport. As a result, the flight hub is in danger of running out of jet fuel.

Governor declares emergency

Currently, there is no timeline on reopening the Olympic Pipeline. On Wednesday, Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson issued an emergency proclamation temporarily waiving and suspending state regulations limiting how many hours commercial motor vehicle operators can drive when transporting jet fuel.

The move ensures that Sea-Tac Airport can still receive adequate fuel supplies while the pipeline remains closed and under repair.

“We are in close communication with our state and federal partners,” Ferguson said. “This declaration will help the airport maintain its fuel supply while the pipeline is offline and limit disruptions to travelers.”

Concerns still remain

According to The Seattle Times, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. penned a letter to BP addressing the crisis. In it, she wrote it would take 90 trucks in a 24-hour period to deliver “even half of the fuel the airport needs.”

“The State of Washington, and the entire Pacific Northwest region, depends on SEA,” Cantwell said. “All of this activity depends on the ability of over 1,000 airplanes to take off and land each day — which requires reliable access to fuel.” 

As of Saturday, there were no reports of flights being impacted by the fuel shortage, but the real test will be in the coming days, during the upcoming Thanksgiving travel crunch.

Airlines looking into 'contingency' plans

According to Paddle Your Own Kanoo's Mateusz Maszczynski, domestic flights are less likely to impacted, as airlines have been asked to "ferry" fuel from their original airport to Seattle, meaning planes will be loaded up with more fuel than necessary to make the trip to Seattle in order to not have to refuel once there.

However, Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines, the two largest domestic carriers out of Sea-Tac, have announced they are monitoring the situation and working on "contingency" measures.

“We are working to mitigate a potential impact from the Olympic Pipeline fuel leak," Alaska Airlines said, via KING5. "We are not currently experiencing any disruption to our operation at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. To ensure our scheduled service is maintained without significant disruption, we are preparing contingency plans, which include fuel management strategies such as tankering in fuel on inbound flights to Seattle, assessing tech stop options along certain routes to conserve fuel, and maintaining and expanding our trucking operation to bring in additional fuel supply."

Delta Air Lines added that it was "closely monitoring the fuel supply at SEA, and there are no operational impacts at this time."