BALTIMORE — A software update caused a travel nightmare at BWI Marshall Airport on Friday, impacting airlines globally.
“Spirit Airlines will not let us book anything right now. It ruined our entire vacation,” one traveler said.
Cesar Vasquez, rebooked on Southwest, said it was too late to save the beach trip he planned for his family.
“We’re trying to figure out if they’re going to reimburse us. They did lose our luggage. Apparently, our luggage is in Cancun,” Vasquez said.
Southwest Airlines, BWI’s dominant carrier, was not affected like most other airlines, and their terminal was still running smoothly on Friday.
“I feel sorry for them because I was thinking, ‘Oh my, that could have been us,'” Ellen Kunert said. “Thankfully, we only have a delay of about a half hour.”
Linda Swain echoed these sentiments.
“That’s why we came out early because we didn’t know what we were going to be facing,” Swain said.
Scenes of crowds and people sleeping at the airport were common throughout the day. Just after noon near the Delta check-in, a massive line stretched as far as the eye could see.
Remi, a traveler on his way to Africa for his son’s 19th birthday, expressed his frustration.
“You get the alert saying the flight was canceled. It’s just traumatic,” Remi said. “We’re not even sure if we’ll make the next connecting flight. It’s a whole mess.”
Airport workers handed out water to stranded passengers. Bobby Toe, rerouting from a vacation in Italy to one in Mexico, remained optimistic and did not blame the airline staff.
“These folks didn’t cause it, and I’m quite sure they had to do their jobs. At the end of the day, I’m quite sure we’ll be on the beach somewhere soon,” Toe said.
The incident highlights the fragility of the airline system, where one computer problem can cause massive failures.
“Technology, that’s all I’ve got to say,” Swain remarked.
Rumors of Santa Luke retiring were debunked, as he stated he will continue as long as possible.
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