Delays, cancellations persist at North Carolina airports in outage aftermath

CHARLOTTE/MORRISVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS/WNCN) — Airports across the country, including Charlotte Douglas International and Raleigh Durham International Airport, are recovering from a tech outage that’s caused thousands of flight delays and cancellations.

Problems at CLT

Many issues caused by Friday’s global IT meltdown are plaguing passengers trying to get from place to place. Travelers have been spending a lot of time in the airport. Our crews heard of some having to wait in hours-long lines because of mix-ups with baggage. Others have had delay after delay.

“I’d never seen Charlotte airport like this,” said traveler Olivia Molella. “It was very much full. Lines were nuts.”

The TSA lines are long.

“It feels like I’ve been waiting in lines 30 minutes, an hour, hour and a half,” said Dev Patel.

The flight board is full of delays.

“My flight is delayed like two or three hours, but that means I’m going to miss my flight in Florida,” said Tanika Oden.

Many people are having to rebook their flights.

“We got stuck there in Key West, which I can’t complain too much, after a canceled flight,” said Molella.

These are all setbacks you could run into if you’re catching a flight out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in the coming days.

“Cancel the flight,” said Oden. “I’ll try again in the morning, so I’m going to be stuck here another day.”

Passengers have one word to describe their travel experience.

“It was chaotic,” said Molella.

The chaos comes from cyber-security firm CrowdStrike sending out a software update that affected Microsoft computers used by airlines, banks, hospitals and more. While most corporate computer systems are back online, airlines are dealing with the backup of postponed planes, luggage, and passengers.

Travelers have suggestions for other people set to fly.

“Bring books, some entertainment because you’re very likely going to deal with some delays,” said traveler Arun Yagna.

Others recommend getting there early and limiting your luggage.

“If you can try not to check a bag, that would be the biggest advice I have,” said Oden.

Our crews also heard some people saying their airline apps aren’t updating in real-time to reflect delays and cancellations, so it wouldn’t hurt to call your airline before heading to the airport.

Problems at RDU

A few days after a software issue grounded flights across the country, Delta Air Lines is continuing to have problems, including at Raleigh-Durham International Airport .

By 5 a.m. Tuesday, 17 flights operated either by Delta or regional carrier Endeavor Air, which flies shorter routes on smaller aircraft under the Delta name, had already been canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware . By 7 a.m., that number had increased to 19.

Five Endeavor Air flights, all between RDU and the three New York City airports — John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International — are among those canceled. The other 14 are Delta flights to or from other airports around the country, including their hubs in Atlanta, Detroit and Salt Lake City.

Over a dozen Delta/Endeavor flights are also delayed as of 7:30 a.m., with nearly a dozen more delayed on other carriers.

No other airlines reported cancellations to or from RDU early Tuesday morning.

Travelers flying on Delta are encouraged to check their flight status with the airline.

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