Travelers at ILM Airport impacted by tech outage

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A global cyber outage brought many businesses to a scrambling halt on Friday.

At Wilmington International Airport, frustrated travelers waited in long lines or one their phones to try and figure out new travel plans after flights nationwide were grounded or delayed.

“This is a nightmare,” traveler Maura Powell said. “An absolute nightmare for so many people. Everybody’s flights have been delayed or canceled.”

Mary Katherine Hobbs had been trying to get to Washington, DC since 7 p.m. Thursday night.

“They put us on a flight this morning at 11:06 and now it is 1:54,” Hobbs said. “Everyone has been nice, but it is a nightmare.”

Agents at the counters were busy trying to accommodate passengers.

Hobbs and Powell appreciated the effort to try to get them on another flight.

“They’re searching everything they can to try and find us some kind of ticket without a layover,” Powell said.

“And of course they are getting yelled at,” Hobbs added.

“I thanked them quite a bit and am very gracious to them because I feel terrible,” Powell said.

Dashawn Grace works with two of the airlines at ILM. She explained what her morning looked like.

“Passengers were stuck here,” Grace said. “Some didn’t have rides to get back out of here some aren’t from here. A lot of them were distraught. A lot of them had kiddos, so we tried to make them as comfortable as we could you know being in a situation where it’s no one’s fault.”

With so many flights in disarray, airlines were trying to catch up.

As of Friday evening, arrivals and departures were showing up as “scheduled” on ILM’s website.

The airport said travelers should check directly with their airlines for updates on their flight status.