Provo travelers make alternative plans for weekend trips amid major software outage
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- Customers wait for more information information regarding impacted flights due to widespread technical complications Friday, July 19, 2024.
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- From left, Sarah Millet, Stephanie Delahunty and Katherine Murphy of Saratoga Springs are pictured at Provo Airport on Friday, July 19, 2024. The group’s flight to California was canceled due to widespread technical complications.
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- Customers wait at the Allegiant Air ticket counter to receive information regarding impacted flights due to widespread technical complications Friday, July 19, 2024.
Friday morning’s massive global technology outage led to flight disruptions and disappointment for people planning to travel out of airports across the country, and Provo was no exception.
The widespread outage caused systemwide delays and in many cases cancellations on multiple airlines.
An official spokesperson for the Provo Airport did not immediately respond to the Daily Herald’s request for comment, but several travelers said their flights on Allegiant Air were canceled Friday morning. Many were unaware of the complications until they arrived at the airline’s ticket counter.
Allegiant Air took to social media addressing the outages.
An initial statement, posted around 6:45 a.m MDT, alerted customers of a third-party software system outage and warned of potential problems for people trying to check in and access boarding passes for any scheduled flights Friday. According to The Associated Press, the trouble was sparked by a software update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and affected its customers running Microsoft Windows.
A spokesperson for the airline told the Daily Herald they were working with a service provider to get the issue resolved but didn’t say when systems were expected to be back up.
“Because of the outage, our ability to contact customers has been affected. Allegiant flights scheduled to depart before 2pm ET/11am PT have been canceled,” Sonya Padgett, director of corporate communications, said in an emailed statement. “Customers who are booked on those flights should not arrive at the airport. They will receive an email from our Customer Care team with options to receive a refund or rebook on another flight when the systems are restored. Customers with flights scheduled after that time frame should refer to Allegiant’s social media channels for further updates.”
The email goes on to say Allegiant appreciates its customers’ patience and understanding as the company works to minimize travel impacts.
There were a mix of feelings from travelers due to Friday’s disruption.
Leah Dultarin was supposed to fly out early in the morning on an Allegiant flight home to Phoenix but learned that it was canceled.
The Brigham Young University student was visibly upset, as she was looking forward to spending time with her family.
“My grandma is in town (Phoenix) so I was gonna visit her, and we had a lot of plans that I can’t do any more,” Dulartin said.
She was hoping to still find a way to Arizona, as her grandmother was set to leave town Saturday.
Others tried to make the best of the situation and were exploring alternatives to get to their destinations.
Katherine Murphy of Saratoga Springs was flying to Santa Ana, California, also on Allegiant for a weekend getaway in Orange County to celebrate her birthday with friends.
“We are going to Plan B, which is now we’re going to St. George,” Murphy said. “So luckily, it worked out for us. We didn’t have any big events that we’re going to except just celebrating a birthday.”
Murphy said they were planning to rent a vehicle for the drive down to St. George.
While she’ll most likely be refunded for the canceled flight, Murphy said they had an Airbnb booked, costing around $1,500, that she may not be able to get back.
“Kind of a bummer. We don’t get to go to the beach, but I think it’ll work out,” said Stephanie Delahunty, who was planning to accompany Murphy on the trip.
Impacts were minimal for Breeze Airways, officials said.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson said there were some initial delays but no cancellations.
“All airlines have approved procedures for operating safely in the event of a system outage,” Gareth Edmonson-Jones said in the email. “We were able to immediately activate our backup processes and have successfully maintained our operation today and no plans to cancel flights.”
Provo Airport’s website listed multiple departure delays or impacts to Dallas-Fort Worth, Santa Ana, Chicago, and Mesa, Arizona.
