Seattle Pipeline Shutdown Puts SEA Jet Fuel At Risk

Published on Nov 24, 2025, 12:48 pm CST

9 min read

Key points

A November 11, 2025 leak on BP's Olympic Pipeline near Everett shut the 400 mile fuel line that normally carries jet fuel to Seattle Tacoma International Airport
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson issued an emergency proclamation on November 19 to relax trucking rules so jet fuel can be hauled to SEA while the pipeline is offline
BP briefly restarted an unaffected segment of the Olympic Pipeline after leak testing, then shut it again when more diesel product was found at the response site
Sea Tac is still operating normally, but officials are asking some inbound flights to arrive with extra fuel and warning that reserves could tighten if repairs slip beyond the holiday period
If the shutdown drags on, travelers could see schedule trims, added tech stops, and tighter fuel management on routes into and out of Seattle Tacoma
Flyers using SEA in the next week should avoid tight connections, monitor airline and airport alerts closely, and be ready to reroute through other West Coast hubs if fuel constraints escalate

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Travelers flying into or out of Seattle Tacoma International Airport over the next week face the highest risk of disruption if jet fuel deliveries lag behind demand
Best Times To Fly: Morning and early afternoon departures from Seattle offer the best odds of avoiding fuel related retimes or equipment swaps once airlines start conserving reserves
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Tight connections of less than two hours through Seattle are risky because even modest fueling delays or gate swaps could cascade into missed onward flights
Onward Travel And Changes: Cruise departures, long distance trains, and last flights to smaller communities after a Seattle connection are most vulnerable if airlines trim schedules to stretch fuel
What Travelers Should Do Now: Anyone ticketed through Seattle in the next several days should build buffer time into itineraries, watch for airline waivers, and consider rerouting via Portland, San Francisco, or Denver if options appear

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Anyone flying through Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) over the next several days is now dependent on emergency workarounds for jet fuel, because BP's 400 mile Olympic Pipeline remains shut after a November 11 leak near Everett halted the main fuel artery into the region. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has declared an emergency so tank trucks can haul more jet fuel to the airport while investigators dig up the damaged line and try to find the exact failure point. For travelers, flights are still operating, but the combination of limited on site reserves and a fragile supply chain means Seattle connections are more exposed to schedule tweaks, retimes, and last minute reroutings than usual.

In practical terms, the Seattle pipeline SEA jet fuel problem is that the airport has lost its primary pipeline feed just as Thanksgiving volume peaks, so even if airlines keep schedules intact, they have less margin to absorb unexpected demand, weather, or delays.

How The Olympic Pipeline Leak Escalated

Olympic Pipeline is the main fuel backbone for the Pacific Northwest, a roughly 400 mile system that moves gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from refineries in northwest Washington down to distribution terminals in western Washington and Oregon, including the fuel farm that supplies Seattle Tacoma. On November 11, 2025, a farmer east of Everett spotted a sheen in a drainage ditch, and inspectors traced it to a leak from one of the buried lines in the Olympic corridor, prompting an immediate shutdown of both pipes feeding the region.

BP Pipelines North America initially restored the unaffected segment after pressure tests suggested it was safe, which allowed some product to move while crews focused on the damaged line. However, responders soon found additional diesel product inside the cleanup zone, and state officials say BP shut the restarted line again so they could excavate more of the right of way and understand whether there was a second leak or migration from the first. As of the latest updates, more than one hundred feet of pipe has been dug up near the leak site, but the company has not offered a firm timeline for repairs or for safely reopening either segment of the system.

The results are already rippling through the fuel supply chain. Officials at the Washington Department of Ecology and local outlets note that the pipeline shutdown has forced terminals and airports to lean on stored inventories and alternative modes of delivery, particularly for jet fuel that was previously flowing straight from refinery to airport via Olympic.

What The Governor's Emergency Proclamation Does

With no clear restart date, Governor Ferguson issued Emergency Proclamation 25 06 on November 19 to keep jet fuel flowing to Seattle Tacoma. The order formally recognizes that the Olympic shutdown is disrupting "the state's primary fuel distribution system" and specifically cites the risk that SEA could run low on jet fuel if normal pipeline operations are not restored quickly.

The proclamation temporarily waives state limits on how many hours commercial drivers can work when hauling jet fuel to the airport, while still requiring basic safety measures and rest periods. It also clears the way for regulators to prioritize deliveries to Seattle Tacoma over some other users, so scarce trucking capacity and available product are steered first toward keeping airlines supplied at the hub. In parallel, federal and local officials are coordinating on barge and terminal logistics so jet fuel can be offloaded at coastal facilities and moved inland if needed.

The fact that the governor invoked emergency powers for an infrastructure problem underscores how tight the margin is. A U S Senate Commerce Committee letter from Senator Maria Cantwell bluntly notes that Seattle Tacoma "has lost its primary source of jet fuel immediately before the busiest travel holiday of the year" and estimates that about 900,000 passengers are expected to pass through the airport over the Thanksgiving period.

How Seattle's Jet Fuel System Normally Works

Under normal conditions, jet fuel for Seattle Tacoma flows in bulk through Olympic from refineries in Whatcom County into storage tanks tied into the airport's hydrant and truck loading system. Those tanks provide a buffer, typically several days of supply at normal burn rates, and airlines then either fuel aircraft directly at the gates via hydrant or top up remote stands via tanker trucks. Trucks and barges can supplement this system, but they are not designed to fully replace a large multi state pipeline for more than short periods.

When Olympic is offline, airport operators can ask airlines to tanker, which means arriving with more fuel than usual so they need less uplift at Seattle, and can lean on over the road deliveries for the remainder. That is effectively what is happening now. Officials say operations at Seattle Tacoma remain normal for passengers, but they also acknowledge that the airport is managing a live constraint on fuel and that they are in constant contact with both BP and federal agencies about the repair timeline.

Scenarios If The Shutdown Drags On

In the near term, the base case is that most travelers will not notice any difference, aside from more frequent headlines about the leak and occasional public statements from the Port of Seattle. As long as truck deliveries and existing inventories can cover demand, airlines will keep schedules mostly intact, perhaps with some internal adjustments to which aircraft gas up where.

If the shutdown extends deeper into the Thanksgiving peak, however, several pressure points could emerge. First, airlines might increase tanker operations more aggressively, asking flights from farther afield to arrive with nearly full tanks so they can depart Seattle again with minimal local fuel. That can add weight and constrain payload on certain long haul routes, which in turn could mean more seat caps or weight restricted departures.

Second, carriers could begin trimming nonessential segments from the schedule to reduce overall jet fuel draw at Seattle Tacoma, especially at the edges of the day where recovery options are limited. In past fuel disruptions at other hubs, airlines have favored protecting core trunk routes and high yield long haul flights while thinning some short haul frequencies that have viable alternatives.

Third, if inventories were to approach critical levels, airlines might add technical stops to or from Seattle on select long haul routes, for example fueling across the border in Vancouver, or using Portland or another West Coast airport as a quick refueling point. These scenarios are not inevitable, and officials stress that none of them have been triggered yet, but they are the levers airlines typically pull when a hub's fuel system is constrained for more than a few days.

How This Interacts With Weather And Construction

The fuel constraint is arriving on top of an already tight operating environment at Seattle Tacoma. Runway 16R and 34L is closed for construction through November 27, and multiple taxiway projects are reducing flexibility during peak banks, so even on a normal day the airport has less capacity to absorb disruptions. Thanksgiving week forecasts also keep the Pacific Northwest under rounds of rain, low cloud, and mountain snow that can slow arrivals and departures.

That means any fuel related adjustments will be layered onto a system already dealing with weather and infrastructure constraints. A modest ground delay program that might otherwise be manageable could pinch more sharply if aircraft are repositioned, if airlines need a particular gate with hydrant access, or if tanker strategies make some routings less flexible.

For more detailed background on how the same leak triggered initial fuel concerns and early travel guidance, travelers can review Adept Traveler's earlier coverage in Seattle Fuel Pipeline Leak Puts Sea Tac Flights At Risk.

Practical Strategies For Travelers Using Seattle

If you are booked through Seattle Tacoma in the next week, the simplest move is to assume the airport is in a fragile operating window and plan accordingly. That does not mean panic cancelling trips. It does mean adjusting your risk tolerance.

For connections, avoid minimum layovers. Aim for at least two hours between flights through Seattle, and three hours if you are linking a long haul arrival to a domestic leg, a cruise departure, or a last flight of the day into a smaller community. If fuel constraints lead to any schedule thinning, those edge of day segments are the ones most likely to disappear or to roll into the next morning.

If you have not yet ticketed and have flexibility, consider routing through alternative West Coast hubs such as Portland International Airport (PDX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), or Denver International Airport (DEN), especially for discretionary trips where a small fare difference is less important than resilience. For essential travel to or from Seattle itself, favor earlier departures in the day that come with more backup options if an aircraft swap or retime ripples through the schedule.

Monitor airline and airport channels closely. Enable app notifications, sign up for text alerts, and keep an eye on Seattle Tacoma's official feeds, which will be among the first to flag any need for airlines to adjust operations because of fuel. If your carrier posts a travel waiver referencing Seattle or the Pacific Northwest, use it early instead of waiting until flights are already disrupted.

Finally, treat nonrefundable ground arrangements with caution. If you are pairing a same day arrival in Seattle with a cruise embarkation, a rail departure from King Street Station, or a timed coach transfer, consider moving into town the night before or booking flexible options that allow retiming without heavy penalties. Adept Traveler's evergreen guidance on U S airport delays, cancellations, and backup planning remains a useful companion, especially for complex Thanksgiving itineraries.