Some RNC delegates are stuck at Milwaukee airport due to global tech outage 

John Bailey, a guest of a Georgia delegate at the Republican National Convention, got back to his hotel around 3 a.m. Friday morning after a late night at Fiserv Forum. He had been watching former president Donald Trump’s 93-minute speech on the last night of the convention. 

Then he learned his flight back to Atlanta might get delayed due to a global tech outage, which affected airlines across the world.

When he made it to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport Friday morning, he found out his flight had been canceled — but that didn’t dampen his mood.

“We’re riding on a high right now,” Bailey said, “so for me, I’m like super stoked on the convention and everything that was said last night.” 

Suzanne White, a delegate from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said she was in line for an hour at Milwaukee’s airport Friday morning due to a delayed flight. But she also wasn’t worried about being stuck in an airport, even if she wasn’t sure yet when she’d make it back home.

“Nothing will steal my joy of the wonderful time we had here in Milwaukee, the memories that we came away with and the excitement of the convention,” White said. “It was fabulous.”

Many of the law enforcement, media members and delegates who were in Milwaukee from across the nation for the four-day convention left on Friday. Harold Mester, the director of public affairs and marketing for Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, said that led to a busy day at the airport, and the tech outage didn’t help.

“Obviously with today being probably the busiest departure day of the year, (it was) not an ideal time for systems to go down,” Mester said. “But we did our best to help travelers get through the airport as best as we could and hopefully get on their flights without too much of delay.” 

Mester also said private planes that were in the city for the convention were not affected by the glitch.

Around 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, there were some travelers stuck in long lines at the airport. Those lines were longer at 1 p.m.

Around 2:30 p.m., flight tracker Flight Aware found there were 6,387 delays “within, into, or out of the United States” on Friday. In Milwaukee, there were 68 delays at the airport and 20 flight cancellations at that time.

Even with the delays, delegates stuck at Milwaukee’s airport seemed to be unfazed by the shakeup. Despite some “chaos,” Dalton Brannen, an alternate delegate from Georgia, said he believes he’ll get home soon, “and we’re asking for God and Trump’s help to get us there.” 

“As long as this is the right line, we’re all right,” Brannen said. “After almost a week here, this is a minor issue.”

Shortly after learning his flight was canceled, Bailey said he was considering renting a car or even a U-Haul to truck it back to Georgia.

“Everyone we talked to, they’ve been good people, we had no issues downtown,” he said. “We’re happy to come back sometime soon.”