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Spirit Airlines issue delays hundreds of flights

More than half of Spirit's flights on Thursday have been delayed, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

WASHINGTON — Spirit Airlines says it has fixed a "network issue between third party services" that impacted the budget airline's operations on Thursday, leading to more than 500 flight delays. 

In a statement, Spirit said the issue impacted the airline's website, mobile app and "some internal applications." 

"We apologize for any delays and inconvenience, and we’re now working our way back to normal operations," the airline said around 11:30 a.m. Eastern.

Earlier in the morning, Spirit warned travelers to arrive at the airport early because of the issues, which it said also involved airport kiosks. The Spirit Airlines tweet directed travelers instead to the flight tracking website FlightAware

According to FlightAware's cancellation and delay tracker, 60% of the airline's total flights for the day. 

Some Spirit travelers on social media reported hours-long delays.

WCNC anchor Vanessa Ruffes was one of those travelers at the Atlanta airport, reporting that the gate agent for her flight said they were unable to board because Spirit Airlines staff currently can't print flight paperwork. 

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Air Canada was also dealing with technical issues on Thursday. The Montreal airline tweeted midday that it was experiencing an IT issue that was causing flight delays and recommended customers to check their flight status on its website before heading to the airport.

FlightAware showed that more than 50% of Air Canada's flights were delayed.

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