International flights at JFK Airport canceled for second day in a row due to power disruption
NEW YORK -- International flights were canceled at John F. Kennedy International Airport for a second day in a row Friday due to a power disruption.
The Port Authority said it expects limited operations to resume Saturday.
CBS2 learned one damaged electrical panel was repaired, allowing partial power restoration, but it's not enough to fully restore operations at Terminal 1.
Sources said full restoration requires a new electrical transformer, which was in transit from Georgia.
Friday, at least 44 flights were delayed and 30 canceled after at least 200 delays and 32 cancelations Thursday.
Since Thursday, many flights were canceled, others were rerouted to Terminal 4. Some travelers were even bused to New Jersey to catch new flights.
"You just gotta roll with the punches. It's an unfortunate situation, but we're making the best of it and the airline is trying to accommodate us by moving us over to Newark," said Don Corrao.
Watch John Dias' report
The problem started with a small electrical issue and fire early Thursday morning inside a utility room at Terminal 1. It quickly turned into a problem impacting the entire system.
The terminal was unable to accept inbound and outbound flights. Initially, passengers were stranded.
"It feels like it's a movie, it's not real. I'm still waiting for them to be like, 'It's a joke!'" said Isabella Bivas, a student at Tuckahoe High School.
"Frankly, it's just terrible that the whole terminal is shut down," said Jackson Snyder, another Tuckahoe High student.
Jamil Rahman was leading a pilgrimage to Mecca and says his group is heartbroken.
"The airline doesn't know anything. We don't know anything," he said. "This is the busiest city in the world, how do they not have a back-up plan for this?"
The Port Authority advised, "JFK Terminal 1 will remain closed on 2/17 due to electrical issues as the Port Authority continues working with the terminal's operator to restore flight operations as quickly as possible. Travelers should check with their carriers for flight status before coming to the airport."
But not all knew to do that.
"People are arriving at the airport having not been told ahead of time that their flights were canceled," one traveler said.
The issues were not just on the ground. An Air New Zealand flight that was already eight hours into its trip to JFK had to make a U-turn and return to New Zealand since there was nowhere to land.
In addition to Air New Zealand, a number of major carriers operate out of Terminal 1, like Air France, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa and Italy's ITA Airways. Individual airlines can be checked here.
The travel-smart website "The Points Guy" advises: stay up to date.
"We really encourage travelers to download their airline's app, make sure they're subscribed to push notifications, check sites like Flight Aware to know where your aircraft is, again, even if you're not immediately affected by the Terminal 1 outage," said Melanie Lieberman, global features managing editor for The Points Guy.
A group of St. Anthony High School students who were trying to get to Rome on Thursday to sing for the Pope finally got there via a flight out of Newark.
"They were excited despite what seemed like days of torture," said Brother Joshua DiMauro, with St. Anthony's High School.
The Port Authority now says it expects limited operations to resume on Saturday and will continue a thorough review of what happened with the private entity that operates Terminal 1.
The Port Authority said Terminal 1 represents just five percent of JFK's scheduled passenger flights and that it will continue a thorough review of what happened with the private entity that operates the terminal.
