MIAMI – A worldwide Microsoft outage affected airports around the world Friday morning, and while the Federal Aviation Administration has not issued any ground stops for South Florida airports at this time, flight delays were still being seen by passengers.
One man Local 10 reporter Hannah Yechivi spoke with at Miami International Airport said he had a Frontier flight scheduled for Thursday that had been severely delayed.
“We were here since yesterday at about 2 p.m., so they just pretty much said, ‘Hey, just make it on your own,’” he said.
That passenger, who was trying to head home to Atlanta, said he eventually left and then went back to the airport Friday morning, but some other passengers were forced to stay at the airport overnight.
“You know, it’s not the idea of me being stuck here yesterday, but people sleep on the floor, there’s kids, there’s families, they’ve been here since yesterday at 2 o’clock, and that’s why I’m thinking they should try to look into the marketing team, should look at something to make it better for everybody,” the man said, adding that he didn’t believe it was right not to offer passengers vouchers or discounts to stay at hotels due to the flight disruptions.
“A global Microsoft system outage affecting all airlines is currently delaying departures and arrivals at Miami International Airport,” an MIA spokesperson said in an email to Local 10 News. “Passengers are urged to contact their airline to confirm their flight status before coming to MIA this morning so they can make other travel arrangements if necessary.”
Over at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Local 10 reporter Saira Anwer saw long lines of passengers trying to speak with airline employees to get an update on their flight status.
She reported that many passengers were confused, not knowing what exactly was happening and if the issue would be resolved quickly or if they would be forced to be at the airport all day.
“They’re telling us that they’re going to try to get us all on, but they’re not sure if we’re going to make it and they’re going to pull us out by priority,” one Delta passenger who was heading to Utah said. “So hopefully we’re one of the next ones they expedite to the front.”
Anwer reported that despite the outage, passengers were still able to check in their bags around 6 a.m. and pass through TSA.
“To be honest, I’m just optimistic that maybe I’ll get on my flight on time,” one passenger said.
For the latest flight updates at MIA, click here.
For the latest flight updates at FLL, click here.
For the latest updates from the FAA, visit https://nasstatus.faa.gov/.
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