Seattle Jet Fuel Shortage Hits Long Haul Flights

Published on Nov 27, 2025, 10:51 am CSTUpdated on Nov 27, 2025, 11:01 am CST

10 min read

Key points

A leak on BP s Olympic Pipeline cut jet fuel deliveries to Seattle Tacoma International Airport, prompting a state of emergency and contingency fuel trucking and tankering
BP has located the leak in a gasoline line and resumed jet fuel deliveries to Sea Tac, but officials and airlines warn that fuel reserves will take days to rebuild
Delta has issued a waiver for long haul flights over six hours from Seattle between November 23 and 28, allowing one rebooking in the same cabin without fare difference if travel finishes by December 17
Alaska Airlines is tankering fuel into Seattle and trucking extra supply while warning customers to monitor flight status, even as it aims to avoid cancellations
Passengers on transpacific and transatlantic itineraries via Seattle face the highest risk of delays, diversions, and tech stops and may be better off rerouting through Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, or Portland
Thanksgiving week travelers should avoid tight connections via Seattle, keep itineraries on a single ticket, and watch for further updates from airlines and state regulators as pipeline repairs progress

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: The highest disruption risk sits on international non stop flights over six hours to and from Seattle, especially transpacific routes where extra fuel stops or reroutes are most likely
Best Times To Fly: Early morning and late evening departures from Seattle remain safer than peak afternoon banks, and routings that originate in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, or Portland can dodge the tightest fuel constraints
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Short connections through Seattle into or out of long haul flights are risky, so travelers should build two to three hour buffers or rebook through alternative hubs where airlines allow
Onward Travel And Changes: Cruise departures, tours, and long distance train legs tied to Seattle long haul arrivals should be treated as high risk, and where possible travelers should arrive a day early or choose flexible ground arrangements
What Travelers Should Do Now: Anyone booked on long haul flights touching Seattle through November 28 should check airline alerts, use waivers where available, consider rerouting via other West Coast hubs, and plan for potential overnight stays if diversions or missed connections occur

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A Seattle jet fuel shortage at Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is now forcing schedule changes on some long haul flights just as Thanksgiving traffic peaks, after a leak shut BP s Olympic Pipeline and cut deliveries into one of the Pacific Northwest s most important hubs on November 17, 2025. The impact falls hardest on passengers booked on transpacific and transatlantic services, where airlines need heavy fuel loads and have less flexibility to tank extra fuel from other gateways. Travelers using Seattle for long haul trips over the next few days should expect possible delays, diversions, or technical fuel stops and be ready to shift itineraries through other West Coast or Canadian hubs where airlines permit.

In plain terms, the Seattle jet fuel shortage flights story is about reduced pipeline supply forcing long haul adjustments at a key transpacific gateway during the busiest U S holiday week, so passengers should treat non stop international legs over roughly six hours from Seattle as higher risk and consider rerouting or rebooking where practical.

How The Olympic Pipeline Leak Hit Sea Tac Fuel Supplies

BP s 400 mile Olympic Pipeline, which carries gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from refineries near the Canadian border to terminals in Washington and Oregon, was shut down after a farmer spotted a fuel sheen in a drainage ditch near Everett on November 11. The company halted deliveries on November 17 while crews excavated hundreds of feet of buried pipe to locate the leak, removing Sea Tac s primary jet fuel feed just days before Thanksgiving.

Governors in Washington and Oregon responded with emergency declarations that temporarily relaxed commercial driving hour rules and other regulations so fuel suppliers could move gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel by road and barge instead of relying on the pipeline alone. Officials openly warned that if Olympic did not restart promptly, airport operations at Seattle Tacoma, along with fuel availability for Portland and other regional terminals, would be at risk heading into the holiday peak.

By November 25, investigators had confirmed that the leak was in a 20 inch gasoline line rather than the adjacent jet fuel line. That allowed BP to resume delivering jet fuel to Sea Tac while it finalizes a repair plan for the damaged gasoline segment, although the company and state regulators stress that full fuel reserves at the airport will take days to rebuild and that the broader pipeline system remains partly constrained while work continues.

For travelers, the key point is that the risk has shifted. This is no longer a question of whether Sea Tac will run out of jet fuel entirely. Instead, the issue is that several days of limited or interrupted flow have left storage farms and hydrant systems tight at precisely the moment when long haul demand is highest, so airlines are still operating under fuel conservation rules even as deliveries resume.

Why Seattle Matters So Much In The Fuel Chain

Olympic is effectively the backbone of refined product distribution west of the Cascades, moving fuel from Washington refineries to terminals that supply everything from Portland gas stations to Sea Tac s jet fuel tanks. State and federal sources estimate that the system delivers a majority share of the jet fuel normally burned at Seattle Tacoma International Airport and more than 90 percent of Oregon s transportation fuels, which is why both governors moved quickly to declare emergencies and press BP on restart timelines.

Seattle itself is a critical hub for both Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as well as for their transpacific and transatlantic partners. On a normal day, Sea Tac sends non stop widebody and long range narrowbody flights to destinations such as Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, London, Paris, and Amsterdam, plus long domestic legs into the Eastern United States and Hawaii. Those flights require significant fuel loads, so any restriction on how much can be pumped per departure quickly forces airlines to prioritize which services can operate non stop, which need tech stops, and which should be retimed or temporarily cut.

What Delta, Alaska, And Others Are Changing

Delta has taken the most visible step so far, publishing a travel waiver that applies to international non stop flights over six hours departing from Seattle between November 23 and November 28, 2025. Eligible customers can rebook once in the same cabin for travel on or before December 17, 2025 without paying a fare difference, provided they keep the same origin and destination and travel class.

In practice, that means someone scheduled to fly a non stop from Seattle to Tokyo, Seoul, or a long haul European hub in this window can ask to be rerouted through another Delta or joint venture gateway such as Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), or even through Minneapolis or Detroit, without being penalized on the ticket price as long as they stay within the rules of the waiver. It also gives travelers an opportunity to shift trips later into December if they prefer to wait until fuel stocks at Sea Tac are more clearly stable.

Alaska Airlines, which is also heavily concentrated at Seattle, has so far focused on operational workarounds rather than broad cancellations. The carrier says it is tankering extra fuel into Sea Tac on inbound flights, in some cases loading enough for round trips so aircraft need little or no fuel at the Seattle end, while also expanding trucking operations to bring more jet fuel into the airport from regional terminals. Alaska is telling customers that its schedule is still operating but urging them to monitor flight status closely as the situation evolves.

Other airlines, including international carriers that operate a smaller number of long haul services from Seattle, have not yet issued their own public waivers, but local and national reporting confirms that some flights have already made extra fuel stops, sometimes at Anchorage, Vancouver, or interior U S hubs, and that carriers are ready to add more if pipeline repairs stumble.

Routes And Itineraries At Highest Risk

The highest risk sits on non stop flights over about six hours that either depart from or arrive into Seattle Tacoma International Airport while fuel conservation measures remain in place. In broad terms, that includes:

Long haul transpacific routes linking Seattle to East Asia, where aircraft depart heavy with both passengers and cargo and usually need a full fuel load to avoid weight or range penalties.

Transatlantic flights from Seattle to major European hubs, which may have some rerouting flexibility through other U S gateways but still pull hard on Sea Tac s fuel reserves when they operate non stop.

Long domestic and Hawaii services that skirt the edge of fuel planning margins, particularly when strong headwinds or holding patterns are expected and airlines prefer more generous reserves.

Travelers whose tickets involve a connection at Seattle into one of these longer sectors are particularly exposed. A domestic feeder that arrives late or a long haul departure that picks up a fuel delay can easily break a tight connection, and if the long haul leg is fuel limited or weight restricted, rebooking options may be thin.

Rerouting Options Via Other Hubs

Thanks to the Delta waiver and Alaska s network, many travelers with flexible plans can reduce their exposure simply by shifting their long haul departure to a different hub while keeping Seattle as a domestic spoke.

For example, a passenger originally booked Seattle to Tokyo non stop may be able to fly Seattle to Los Angeles, then Los Angeles to Tokyo on a widebody that is not fuel constrained by the Seattle pipeline issue. Others can route via San Francisco, Vancouver International Airport (YVR), or Portland International Airport (PDX), depending on airline and alliance options.

The tradeoff is usually a longer total travel time and sometimes a more complex connection path, but in the current environment that may be preferable to rolling the dice on a long haul that could be delayed, diverted, or forced into a fuel stop, especially for trips with cruises, tours, or important events at the other end.

Passengers whose tickets were issued through global distribution systems or third party agencies should work directly with the airline first, citing any applicable waivers, then escalate through the booking channel if the carrier confirms eligibility but cannot process the change directly.

Practical Planning Tips For The Next Week

If you are booked on a long haul flight to or from Seattle between now and November 28, the first step is to check whether your itinerary falls under a formal waiver and, if so, whether you want to use that flexibility to reroute or shift dates. Even if you choose to keep your original flights, knowing your rights in advance will speed up any later rebooking.

Second, avoid tight connections through Seattle wherever possible. Aim for at least two hours between domestic legs and three hours where a domestic flight feeds a long haul international departure, especially on itineraries that rely on late afternoon or evening banks. If you cannot adjust connection times, consider moving the long haul segment to another hub and using Seattle only as an origin or final destination.

Third, keep everything on a single ticket with one airline or alliance when you can. Separate tickets into and out of Seattle are much harder to protect if a fuel delay or diversion causes a misconnect, since the second carrier has no obligation to honor your disrupted arrival time.

Fourth, travel with an overnight contingency plan. In the worst case, a diversion for refueling or a missed connection at another hub can strand you mid journey for a night. Having essential medications, chargers, and a change of clothes in your carry on, plus a clear sense of nearby airport hotels, will make that scenario less disruptive.

Finally, monitor official channels. The Port of Seattle, BP, state regulators, and airlines will continue to update the status of the pipeline repairs and any associated operational changes. If new constraints emerge or if testing reveals deeper problems with the pipeline, airlines may extend waivers or widen the scope of schedule adjustments, and early movers will have the best choice of alternative routings.

How This Fits Into The Broader Thanksgiving Risk Picture

This fuel disruption is landing on top of an already stressed U S air travel system. Weather driven delays highlighted in our recent Flight Delays And Airport Impacts: November 26, 2025 coverage and our analysis of Thanksgiving Storms And FAA Cuts Hit US Flights show how storms and reduced capacity can amplify even small local problems.

In that context, Seattle s jet fuel constraints are another friction point rather than an isolated crisis. A few delayed or rerouted long haul flights at Sea Tac can ripple into missed onward connections in Asia or Europe, then circle back into North American schedules days later. Travelers who build generous buffers, prefer resilient routings, and understand their rebooking options will be better positioned to ride out the combined effects of weather, capacity limits, and fuel supply shocks.