Power Outage Disrupts Flights at JFK Airport, Cancellations and Diversions Ensue

A power outage at New York’s JFK Airport continued into a second day on Friday, leading to flight cancellations and diversions, including one flight that had to turn back to New Zealand just before reaching the U.S.

JFK Airport officials tweeted late Thursday that Terminal 1, which manages several international flights, would stay closed on Friday due to ongoing electrical problems.

The power failure stemmed from an electrical panel malfunction that caused a small fire, quickly contained by authorities.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, responsible for the city’s airports, is working to reroute affected flights to JFK's other four operational terminals.

The agency didn’t specify the number of canceled or diverted flights, but it’s likely that thousands of travelers were impacted.

Yahayra Hunt and her husband found themselves stranded at a hotel near the airport on Friday after their Thursday flight to Rome was canceled. They are part of a 16-person group set for an 11-day tour of Italy and Israel.

“We’ve got another agent trying to find a different airport for us to fly from,” she said. “It’s been a nightmare.”

Hunt, 46, mentioned they'd like to explore the city while they wait, but they don’t want to miss a potential rescheduled flight.

“Being stuck in a hotel during vacation is so unfair,” said Hunt, who owns a beauty salon in North Carolina.

Several planes had to turn back to their departure points.

An Air New Zealand flight was two-thirds across the Pacific when it had to reverse course and return to Auckland, landing back in New Zealand after over 16 hours in the air.

Terminal 1, which opened in the late 1990s, is set to be replaced by a new $9.5 billion terminal currently under construction. Originally slated to break ground in 2020, the project was delayed until last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.