Seattle-Tacoma Fuel Outage Disrupts Transpacific Flights

Jet fuel pipeline trouble at Seattle–Tacoma (SEA) on November 21, 2025 caused wide-ranging delays for transpacific services.

The Seattle-Tacoma fuel outage began on November 21, 2025 and briefly cut jet fuel supplies at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA), forcing airlines to delay or cancel flights to and from Asia-Pacific destinations. EVA Air (IATA: BR, ICAO: EVA) was named among affected carriers; both passenger and cargo operations felt the disruption as fuel suppliers and airport authorities scrambled to isolate and repair the fault.

How the Seattle-Tacoma fuel outage affected flights

Airport officials reported the fault as a failure in a fuel pipeline that interrupted routine fueling on the airfield. With transpacific services especially fuel-sensitive because of long sectors and turnaround planning, carriers adjusted schedules and in some cases rerouted aircraft or staged refueling stops. Ground teams and external fuel vendors worked through the evening to restore normal service, but airlines warned that residual delays could spill into the following weekend as aircraft and crews were rescheduled.

The immediate effects were operational rather than safety-related: flights were delayed or canceled while operators ensured adequate fuel for departure. Passengers traveling on affected routes were advised to check airline notifications and rebooking options. Cargo operators also faced knock-on effects as pallets and containers waited for flights to be refitted into new departures.

What airlines did: reassign aircraft, delay departures, and in some cases route to alternate airports while refueling — a direct response to the Seattle-Tacoma fuel outage.
Who was affected: transpacific passenger and cargo flights serving SEA, including EVA Air (BR/EVA).
What to expect: residual delays into the weekend as airlines rebalance schedules and crews.

Travelers booked through SEA should monitor messages from their carrier and the Port of Seattle for official updates. Airlines typically publish rebooking and refund policies when disruptions last multiple days. For industry watchers, the incident underscores how single-point fuel infrastructure issues can ripple through global long-haul networks.