Power was restored to Barbara Jordan terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport just before 8 a.m. Wednesday after travelers were left in the dark for nearly three hours that morning.

The airport posted on social media just before 5 a.m. confirming a power outage in the terminal. It said, “airport teams have been dispatched to investigate the cause of the outage.” An AUS spokesperson told KXAN just before 6:30 a.m. backup generators did kick in then.

AUS said flights were previously halted, but as of 9:48 a.m. the ground stop was lifted. KXAN crews inside the terminal said security lines began screening passengers at 7:40 a.m., and AUS officials confirmed this. 

Flight delays should still be expected, the airport said, and passengers should check their flight status before heading to AUS. 

Southwest Airlines released a statement to KXAN, saying “Due to this morning’s power outage at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Southwest has proactively reduced morning operations at AUS. We have issued a travel advisory for AUS Customers and appreciate their patience as we work to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.“

The Austin Police Department told KXAN around 5:30 a.m. that airport police had previously blocked entrances into the airport. Airport roadways were closed temporarily, but in an update at 9:48 a.m., the airport said those roadways had reopened.

This of course caused traffic to bottleneck and back up and stopped vehicles on Highway 71 showed people getting out of cars and walking to the airport.

Austin Energy worked with AUS teams to assess the outage. The utility company said all power lines near the airport are underground. They used fault indicators to help locate where the issue was. In an update, Austin Energy said the outage was caused by “malfunctioning underground equipment.”

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