December 4, 2024
Traveling during a busy holiday weekend can be challenging in normal circumstances. When Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) experienced a cyberattack just before Labor Day Weekend this year, travelers faced more hurdles than usual. The Port had to disconnect the system from the internet to keep unauthorized intruders out, which brought down in-terminal displays that helped travelers find their gate, locate baggage carousel information, connect to Wi-Fi or the Fly SEA App, or print bag tags or boarding passes. Most airline systems continued to operate, but travelers at shared gates used by smaller airlines experienced long lines while the ticketing and check-in processes were handled manually.
Due to the network outage, many Port and SEA Airport staff could not perform their regular desk jobs, so they came to the terminal in person to help travelers get to their gates and their destination. Even retired Port employees and regular volunteers showed up to help. The team went old school, using pen, paper, and handwritten signs, as well as third-party apps, Google searches, and texting to provide flight, gate, and baggage information. Almost 500 volunteers spent more than 3,600 hours assisting travelers in the first 10 days of the outage.
Meet some of these superstar volunteers as they share some of their favorite experiences helping travelers.
Marlene Slugay, Senior Human Resources Organizational Business Partner
Marlene volunteered the Tuesday after Labor Day in the baggage claim level offering a friendly face to answer travelers’ questions, direct them to baggage claim, and navigate construction.
“There was a traveler who I could see was frantically looking for something. He said, ‘I’m trying to get to Amtrak’ and showed me the piece of paper with his itinerary. He was taking the train up to Vancouver B.C. to get on an Alaska cruise. I told him his options were to take a $50-70 Uber to get to the Amtrak station downtown, or he could take the Link Light Rail for $3. He liked the idea of taking light rail, but I could see his eyes glossing over as I was trying to give directions to the airport station. So, I walked him to the parking garage and the Link Light Rail stop and helped him buy a ticket. I told him what stop to get off at and that there are restaurants nearby to hang out in and people watch while waiting for the train.”
Julie Kinzie, Sound Insulation Senior Manager, Noise Programs
Julie volunteered over the busy Labor Day weekend in the baggage claim level and put herself in travelers’ shoes as she answered questions and provided directions and baggage claim information.
“A group of four travelers who did not speak English and had their bags with them had been directed by someone else to go to ticketing and were about to get into the elevator. I was thinking that if they had bags and were just arriving at SEA, they may not actually need to go to ticketing. Through hand gestures, I was able to determine that they just arrived, and they were able to say ‘taxi.’ I directed them to the parking garage to get a cab.”
Cathy Swift, Content Marketing and Digital Communications Manager
Cathy assisted travelers arriving from long overseas flights through the International Arrivals Facility. Due to the outage, there was no Wi-Fi and many travelers could not coordinate pickups because they did not have a SIM card on their phone.
“An elderly woman arrived on a long flight from China. When she landed, she heard that her daughter was not able to pick her up at SEA as originally planned. She needed to get to Vancouver, B.C. but her cell phone was not working due to the Wi-Fi outage, and she did not speak English. With the assistance of another traveler translating, I was able to purchase a bus ticket using her credit card from SEA to downtown Vancouver B.C. that was leaving in 15 minutes. I walked her to the bus, confirmed her virtual ticket with the driver, and told him her stop so he could instruct her to get off the bus. I’m happy to report that she got on the bus with a few minutes to spare.”
Amanda Loewen, Operational Readiness, Activation, and Transition Specialist
Amanda volunteered throughout the first week of the system outage when there was a critical need to help SEA Airport travelers. Amanda spent most of her time in international ticketing, the baggage claim area, and the D Concourse.
“A traveler had flown in on American Airlines and was trying to find her oversize luggage that hadn’t come through. After I verified that it wasn’t delayed, I helped her check two areas where her luggage could have been placed. We ended up finding it in the American Airlines Baggage Service Office on the floor, where they store luggage that isn’t immediately claimed. The oversize luggage was a backpacking backpack; she was coming into town to summit Mount Rainier. After we found her luggage we discussed hiking in the area, as I’ve done some hikes at Mount Rainier myself.”
Janey Koester, regular airport volunteer
Janey has volunteered at SEA for a little over two years. After retiring from American Airlines and United Airlines where she worked as a flight attendant, and in ticketing and marketing, she volunteers at SEA to stay involved with the industry she loves.
Janey normally volunteers one day per week but worked for one week straight during the outage. On the Sunday after the outage began, she was stationed near gate A3, by the entrance to the SEA Underground train to the S Concourse. With critical systems down, helping travelers find their gates was challenging and Janey used unconventional strategies to assist.
“Sometimes we literally looked out of the window to see where international flights were leaving from and asked crew members from international flights what gate they were going out of when we couldn’t find information. We also used a lot of different apps which were successful most of the time. When we couldn’t find the gate right away, we’d have travelers wait in the Central Terminal, which is halfway to anywhere in the airport. Then we’d check back after we did our best to find their gates. We used whiteboards to fill out normally automated information, like gates and baggage claim information. Every time I learned a new gate, airline, and time, I’d write it down so I didn’t have to pull it up on my phone again.”
Susan Spadoni, regular airport volunteer
Susan has volunteered at SEA for nearly three years. She previously spent 30 years traveling for work, and now she’s able to use her familiarity with SEA and other airports to help make other travelers’ experiences easier.
The first Sunday after the cyberattack she was stationed near gate A3, where travelers connect trains to the S Concourse.
“A woman approached me at A3 telling me she had lost her purse. Her flight was leaving in an hour for London. She thought she had left it in the restroom by A2. I went and checked, and it wasn’t there. Because phone lines were down, we couldn’t call the Lost and Found to see if someone had turned it in. Since she had no ID, I had her wait after security while I went to the Lost and Found before security to check. The good news was someone had turned it in, likely someone from janitorial since it hadn’t been lost for long. I came back, took her to the Lost and Found to claim it, and then directed her back through security. Luckily, she made it to her flight on time.”
Will Crawford, Senior Environmental Management Specialist
Will volunteered the Wednesday after Labor Day and was stationed at the Information Desk between the International Arrivals Facility and the A Concourse.
“The whole experience was great. With my background in customer service, flight operations, and irregular operations for the airlines, I was able to use my knowledge to help travelers and other volunteers. I was stationed where the IAF lets international travelers into the rest of the airport and helped a traveler waiting for a friend coming in from Tokyo. She was nervous about not knowing where her friend was going to come out. I assured her that if she waited in that area, she wouldn’t miss them, and they were eventually able to connect.”
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