Orlando airport plagued by long lines, frustrated passengers as global outage strands many

Hundreds of people were trapped in lines, sitting on floors and crowded into waiting areas Friday at Orlando International Airport as a global tech outage canceled flights in and out of the city.

Melbourne Beach resident Brandon Campbell was headed to Costa Rica with his two young daughters, Rory and Bali, for their first surf trip when he got “obviously disappointing” news that their flight on Spirit Airlines was canceled.

“They told us ‘the system’s down, we can’t reschedule you and we’ll email you when we can’,” Campbell said. “We’re going home, there’s no way they’re going to be able to get us on today.”

Campbell, who for a time sat on the floor with his daughters and other passengers whose travel plans had been disrupted, said he was trying not to get upset about the delayed start to the family’s two-week vacation. “It’s out of our control.”

The outages were the result of a faulty update delivered by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike — which provides software to dozens of companies nationwide on computers running Microsoft Windows. The problem impacted airlines around the world.

Sixty-five flights at OIA were canceled Friday and 74 were delayed in or out of the airport, according to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.

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The airport itself felt only minimal impacts from the outages, the authority said in a statement. “Our team is working closely with our airline partners to assist their customers with passenger movement and convenience in the terminal.”

Spirt Airways is the airport’s second-biggest carrier based on passengers. Its counter area in Terminal A was packed in the morning with people trying to speak with airline representatives about the status of their flights.

Delays and cancellations were also reported by American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines, among others.

Michigan resident Dezra Lloyd said she was waiting for a connecting Spirit flight, also to Costa Rica, for her birthday when she found out it was canceled.

“I’m just rolling with it,” Lloyd said as she sat on her suitcase and checked her phone. “This is my birthday trip so I’m a little sad, but what can you do? I just want to go home at this point though. I’d rather celebrate at home.”

Maryland resident Skailah Roebuck was crouched on the ground, inches away from an electrical outlet, charging several phones after her flight to Baltimore was delayed.

Headed home after a weeklong cruise, Roebuck said “things happen for a reason” but she was eager for a quick resolution.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but they need to get it fixed immediately,” she said. “I feel like I’m a very understanding person, but I’m really ready to go home so they need to get it fixed and get it together.”

— Alissa Gary and Rich Pope of the Sentinel staff contributed to this story.