TECO To Make Critical Repairs Following Tampa Airport Power Outage

TAMPA, FL — Tampa Electric Co. is making critical electrical repairs following a power outage across Tampa International Airport Wednesday night.

According to TECO, a storm-related event damaged underground electrical equipment, causing catastrophic failures to primary power sources and redundant equipment.

In the process of making repairs, the power company discovered an issue with cabling and a switchgear that requires immediate attention. TECO officials said this work is crucial to make permanent repairs and restore Airside F to full operational strength.

Related: Power Outage At Tampa International Airport Snarls Travel, Flights

“Tampa Electric has redundancies in place, which are designed to provide an alternative power feed during outage events,” said TECO Account Manager Drew Sirianni. “However, despite our robust measures, we encountered a breakdown in the redundancies, specifically affecting Airside A and Airside F. Redundancy failures are extremely rare, and we are currently conducting a thorough investigation to determine the root cause and prevent future issues.”

“While this unprecedented event posed significant challenges, especially to our travelers, the shutoff and repair work are vital to maintaining continuity of operations and our high standards of service,” said John Tiliacos, Tampa International Airport’s executive vice president of operations and customer service. “We apologize for the hardships these issues have caused everyone involved. I am confident TECO, our team and our partners will, as always, pull together to resolve this situation once and for all.”

At 9:05 p.m. Wednesday, a sudden power outage affected most of the airport campus including the main terminal, airsides, shuttles and SkyConnect train.

Within minutes, Tampa International Airport leadership activated the airport’s emergency operations center and had TECO crews on-site investigating the problem within an hour.

By 9:45 p.m., power was restored to most areas, except Airsides A and F. Airside A came back online by 11:30 p.m. and Airside F power was restored by 2:30 a.m.

These issues caused significant disruptions to airport operations, including dozens of flights that faced unusual wait times to board or deplane, limited use of passenger boarding bridges and inoperable computers.