LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Many flights going in and out of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Friday were either canceled or delayed due to a worldwide technology outage.
Many airlines operating out of Louisville SDF grounded flights Friday morning. Though officials said airport systems and security checkpoints are now operating normally, airlines are continuing to have technology issues.
"In my time here we have seen some airlines occasionally have an outage or issue that may impact their operations," Natalie Chaudoin, a spokesperson for the airport, said. "Typically it’s one at a time. It’s very rare that you’d see one impact all of the airlines at the same time."
The FAA said United, American, Delta and Allegiant had all been grounded, leaving travelers stranded at airports around the country. Friday morning up to 300 travelers from Fort Knox arrived for their flight back home or next destination.
Santa Barbara, California resident Min Kim said many cadets woke up at 5 a.m. to attend a graduation and then head over to the airport. He and his fellow graduates were concerned about their American Airline flight after reading a post on social media about a technical issues impacting flights across the nation.
"You expect to be at a place at sometime and now you have to change your whole plan just because of some issue you really have no control over," Kim said. "Now that we've checked our bags in, we found out we have like a two hour delay. And now we found out that our flights are at 6 p.m."
Fellow graduate Carson Groff got worse news as he was informed his trip to Italy to further his training was rescheduled to take off the next day.
"Kind of sucks for sure definitely have to look at a hotel room and figure out some options there," Groff said. "So (I'm) a little bummed out."
Chaudoin said it's all hands on deck at the airport to ensure the rest of the day flows smoothly. She said their operations team is working around the clock to make sure everyone gets situated.
"They were the ones just talking to people in the queue lines... and just kind of providing that calm voice to get people through," Chaudion said.
Kim agrees as he describes this afternoon's atmosphere at the airport as easy going.
"The front desk people have surprisingly been calm" Kim said. "It's been a really pleasant experience so far. I really like Kentucky the time I've been here."
But for other travelers with flights not taking off until the next day it's a different vibe.
"It's chaotic for sure," Groff said. "There's people waiting around with their bags. There's a couple of people sleeping. I mean I feel bad for the people who like didn't have family come and take them to the airport. Now they're just kind of stuck here."
The majority of flights this morning at Louisville Airport have been delayed. To check on a flight's status, click here.
Airlines are not the only companies affected by the outage. Banks were offline and media outlets were off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers.
Chaudoin said the best thing they can do is offer support to their airline partners, and make sure every traveler with a late delay feel comfortable while they wait. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.
The Associated Press contributed to reporting in this article.
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