'It was just an unnerving experience': Technical issues cause delays for Spirit Airlines travelers

According to FlightAware, 50% of Spirit's flights were delayed.
Thursday, June 1, 2023
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Technical troubles caused some major problems for Spirit Airlines on Thursday.

Computer issues impacted the company's website, app and airport kiosks. The issues delayed flights across the country, including at the Philadelphia International Airport.

Janelle Blount, who's heading to Oakland, says her flight was delayed a total of three times. She says her day was off to a great start until the delayed flight texts kept coming in.

"First, it was delayed about a half an hour. Then an hour later I got a text it was delayed another two hours. Then not too long ago I got another text it was delayed another 45 minutes. So that's where we are now," said Blount of Wyncote.

According to FlightAware, 50% of Spirit's flights were delayed.

They initially blamed the delays on technical issues. Later the airline came out and said it was a network problem.

"We got there really, really early so it was annoying they didn't board us on time," said Phoenix Dawkins of Southwest Philadelphia.

Luckily, some passengers were notified hours before they were supposed to arrive at the airport.

"I was notified around the afternoon. I got a message it was delayed an hour," said Khaja Rabbani of New Castle.

Travelers took to social media to tout their frustrations regarding the delays and Spirit's customer service.

"It was just an unnerving experience. I've never flown with Spirit. I've heard a lot of bad things about Spirit," said Joel Perez.

Perez flew from Texas to Philadelphia. He had not only one flight delayed Thursday, but both of his trips did not leave on time.

"We had to wait almost an hour for the first flight and the second one, it was another 45 minutes. But, here we are. We got here safe, we got here sound. It was a bit of a hassle and frustrating," explained Perez.

Spirit issued a statement saying, "We have resolved a network issue between third party services that affected our website, mobile app and some internal applications. We apologize for any delays and inconvenience, and we're now working our way back to normal operations."
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