What to know about outage flight delays, cancellations at Greenville-Spartanburg Airport

Hundreds of flights were delayed and canceled Friday morning across the U.S., leaving many passengers stranded in airport lobbies with luggage in hand.

Some banks and businesses were also affected, encouraging customers to carry cash on them in case credit and debit networks were down.

And the U.S. isn't the only one facing problems ― it's happening worldwide.

A global technology outage caused by an error in a Microsoft Windows host update is at the root of these issues. CrowdStrike , a cybersecurity firm that develops software to help companies detect and block hacks, issued a statement on their website explaining what went wrong with their services:

"CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack," CrowdStrike stated on their website.

Although CrowdStrike said the error has been deployed, some systems may still be down. Here's what to know about the tech outage.

Is the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) facing problems?

At around 8:30 a.m., the Arrivals message board at GSP showed a canceled Delta flight to Atlanta scheduled for 10:50 a.m. The board listed several delayed flights from American, Southwest, and United Airlines to the following destinations: Baltimore/Washington, Charlotte, N.C., Newark, New Jersey, and Washington D.C.

According to Tiffany Cherry, communications manager at GSP, the global tech outage affected some of the airport's flight statuses and departures due to impacts to individual airlines' systems.

"It appears that most of the airlines have worked through their problems and have started to depart, but we encourage everybody to check with their airline for the most up-to-date information," Cherry said shortly after 7:30 a.m.

The airport currently remains open and operational. Its systems were not affected.

The long lines at baggage check ebbed and flowed at Greenville Spartanburg-International Airport Friday morning, but the terminal remained full of passengers waiting on their flights. The handful of flights departing on time stood out in a sea of delays and cancellations on the flight boards.

Delores Smith of Easley planned to fly Breeze to LAX Friday morning. She and her husband, Eric Madrid, encountered a number of inconveniences, they said.“He went over and parked while I stood at the door. The line (for baggage check) stretched all the way back there,” she said, pointing down the terminal. “We stood in that line for an hour and a half.”Her flight was supposed to leave at 10 a.m., but an attendant told Madrid that the plane hadn’t arrived at GSP.  “In the meantime, we’re all tired and she was waiting at the door for such a long time. I was looking for parking for 30 minutes,” Madrid said. “All of this inconvenience. Everyone tells you ‘We’re working on it.’ What bad luck.”

How outage affected Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson?

Bob Mihalic, a spokesperson for Greenville County, said, "We had no issues" regarding the outage. A city of Greenville spokesperson also said they had experienced "no impacts."

The Greenville County Sheriff's Department and Greenville Police Department also reported no issues with the global tech outage.  The Anderson County Sheriff's Office and Greenville Emergency Communications also had no issues Friday morning.

Prisma Health in Greenville applauded the work of its technology team Friday morning.

“This morning, Prisma Health’s Information Technology Support team became aware of a global issue with CrowdStrike,” according to a statement from Prisma Health. “The team quickly identified the affected servers and resolved the issue by 6:15 a.m. All systems are working normally. The team will continue to monitor.”

City of Spartanburg Communications Christopher George says none of the city’s critical systems have been impacted.   “We have some desktop computers that have minor issues, but our IT department is working to get those issues resolved,” George said.

Spartanburg County Communications Manager Scottie Kay Blackwell said the county was not impacted. “We’ve had no issues reported.”

Spartanburg Regional said they have had minimal impact from the global tech outage.

“While a small number of Spartanburg Regional’s secondary systems are affected by today’s outage, clinical operations are not currently impacted, and patient care continues as normal,” according to a statement from Spartanburg Regional.

Megan Ramey, administrative assistant at Clemson Public Transit, reported that the transit system was experiencing GPS issues due to the nationwide outage. The IT department is aware of the problem and is working to resolve it, she said.

The City of Clemson reported that its offices were open and operational following this morning’s CrowdStrike security update, although some of the City's online services were affected.

The City of Anderson Public Works office is operational and hasn't experienced any problems.

Michael Burns, AnMed's Public Relations Coordinator, stated that the outage had not affected AnMed's patient care operations.

Here's how airlines are helping affected travelers, according to USA TODAY

∎ American: The airline issued a waiver covering all U.S. hubs to affected travelers.

∎ Delta: Before 8 a.m. ET, airline operations resumed. Disruptions are expected to continue throughout the day. The airline issued a waiver permitting passengers traveling Friday to reschedule flights.

∎ United: Flight operations resumed as of 6:30 a.m. ET, according to a statement issued by the airline. Delays and cancellations are anticipated throughout the day. The airline also issued a travel waiver for select airports for affected passengers to change flights.

∎ Spirit: The airline issued a waiver allowing customers who booked Friday or Saturday flights through any airport within the network to change their flight at no additional cost.

What happens if my flight is canceled?

All airlines are required to refund customers if their flights are canceled for any reason, according to the Department of Transportation rules . If a cancellation is within an airline's control, customers may also be entitled to an additional compensation. However, it is uncertain if an airline would qualify within its control under the current IT outage circumstances.

“A controllable flight cancellation or delay is essentially a delay or cancellation caused by the airline. Examples include maintenance or crew problems; cabin cleaning; baggage loading; and fueling,” a DOT document says.

What should I do if my flight is delayed?

No one enjoys hearing their flight is getting delayed, but according to the DOT dashboard regarding airlines' official policies, airlines may be able to provide vouchers or other benefits on a case-by-case basis in situations not formally covered. For instance, airlines may cover meals or hotel expenses due to a long delay. If you are affected by the current tech outage, it's worth asking airline staff if they can accommodate you.

Reporters Savannah Moss, Travis Rose and Terry Benjamin contributed to this article.

Nina Tran covers trending topics for The Greenville News. Reach her via email at ntran@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: What to know about outage flight delays, cancellations at Greenville-Spartanburg Airport