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Spirit Airlines Issues Continue At Pittsburgh International Airport And Arnold Palmer Regional Airport

LATROBE (KDKA) - The chaos continued this morning as people arrive and find they'll have to wait to get to their destinations.

Both arrival and departure flights have been canceled on Thursday morning for Spirit Airlines.

Spirit says they expect the cancellations to diminish over the coming days but it's been five days and there's been no change locally.

According to the airline, they're focusing cancellations on where passengers will have other options.

There were close to 20 flights canceled between Pittsburgh International Airport and Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

Spirit Airlines has issued an apology, saying the delays were the result of staffing shortages, weather, and system outages. However, they say there should be fewer cancellations on Thursday.

Air travel has been at its highest this past week than it has been in more than a year. One family says it's the first time they've been in an airport in four years and they were forced to turn around and head home.

"I looked on the screen and I saw a lot of spirit airlines were canceled and I saw oh our flights canceled," said Amanda Clark.

Amanda and James Clark woke up Thursday morning ready to head on a late honeymoon with their family. Despite the staffing shortages and system outages, there was optimism their Spirit Airlines flight wouldn't be canceled, but that changed on the way to the airport.

"When you book a ticket, you assume your flight is going to happen or you'll be notified," said James. "I've never come to an airport, looked on the board to see canceled and an airline not do anything."

They say not much help was offered, and the same goes for other passengers. Some say they've been stuck in Pittsburgh for two to four days, unable to get back home. The Clarks have booked a new flight through Delta.

The Arnold Palmer Airport, despite the delays and cancellations, feels they've handled it well.

"They're our only airline, so it's very obvious when they don't show up. Everybody notices," said Gabe Monzo. "Like I said, I'm proud of our people and how they performed."

Passengers, though, have been left with tickets in hand, stranded and without a way to get to their destinations.

"It's a lot of upset people here right now," said Sam Crossley, a Los Angeles traveler. "The man's flying for a funeral and it got canceled out of Atlanta."

"So 62,000 passengers with canceled flights, nearly 50,000 of them because they didn't have the pilots available trained and ready to roll," said Capt. Dennis Tajer, the spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association.

In the meantime, Spirit says they're working around the clock to get back on track.

They still recommend travelers check their flight status and look for notifications before they head to the airport.

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