COLUMBIA, N.C. — Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) recovered from a major power outage Saturday morning after successfully bringing systems back online.
A spokesperson for the major Columbia airport announced just before 7 p.m. that crews are slowly beginning to bring systems back online. Around 7:10 p.m., the airport officially announced that power had been restored to the airside of the terminal.
The news comes after airport officials said what officials described as an electrical short around 2 a.m. that impacted the secured side of the airport.
Since that time, airport crews and electricians had been working to fix the issue. But the airport warned in a morning announcement that air conditioning and concessions would unavailable until power was restored. The airport also had been using emergency lights during the time and warned that inbound and outbound flights, while still operational, could be delayed.
“We’re doing everything we can to help our passengers traveling today navigate this inconvenience," CAE Executive Director Mike Gula said. "We’re thankful to see only minor flight delays and no cancellations at this time.”
In an afternoon update, the airport said there had been some delays but no canceled flights as a result of the power outage. Airlines and members of the CAE support staff worked with flyers who were impacted by the power outage.
Despite the power being out for most of the day, some airport patrons did not seem to notice. Pamela Benson was sending her granddaughter off on a flight to California and said she was glad everything seemed to be running smoothly.
"This won't delay her flight or anything so that's a good thing... they're still up and running where they'll be able to leave," Benson said.