Tech outage: They didn't miss their flight, their flight missed them
Fantasia Blackman told News 12 Friday her family spent about $2,900 on eight Breeze Airways tickets to and from Orlando, Florida.
More Stories
Fantasia Blackman says she could not believe it.
Her family did not miss their flight - their flight missed them.
She told News 12 Friday her family spent about $2,900 on eight Breeze Airways tickets to and from Orlando, Florida.
They were about to board, but were held back.
Blackman tried to keep her two sons from understanding their situation right away.
"They don't know," she said. "They have no idea yet."
Blackman said the family was told by Breeze staff one of her sons needed a paper boarding pass to board, but they were unable to print it.
Computer systems were down due to the worldwide tech outage.
The flight took off at about 12:30 p.m., as the family remained outside the terminal working their phones figuring out their next move.
A Breeze employee told one family member to call customer service and that the airline would offer them credits toward another flight.
Calling Friday "a wild one," a Breeze spokesperson told News 12, staff was using printouts of passenger lists because Breeze's computer systems were down due to the tech outage.
Typically, staff would have access to a digital passenger list on a screen that is regularly updated, he said, but on Friday they were printing out hard copies two hours before flights; the family's tickets were booked after the list was printed out and the ticket agents could not find their spots on the plane.
The spokesperson said that instead of credits, Breeze is giving the family a full refund plus some potential extra offerings with hopes the family decides to book with Breeze in the future.
