( CNN ) -- Spirit Airlines said Thursday it 's sorry that hundreds of passengers had flights delayed for hours from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport because of the airline 's voluntary engine inspections . Dozens of passengers slept at the airport Wednesday night , with some waiting nearly 12 hours before their aircraft were cleared for takeoff . `` Some did lose their tempers , but it was all worked out amicably , '' airport spokesman Greg Meyer told CNN via e-mail . Spirit announced Thursday afternoon that all checks had been completed and apologized for the delays . `` We are working diligently to get our customers where they need to go as quickly as possible , '' airline spokeswoman Misty Pinson said . `` We expect to be back to regular schedule later this evening . As always , the safety of our customers is our No . 1 priority . '' This week 's inspections followed last week 's engine failure on a Spirit Airlines flight shortly after takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport . Spirit Flight 165 was heading for Atlanta when the failure occurred , but returned safely to the Dallas airport . Besides one flight cancellation , passengers on Atlantic City-bound Flight 268 may have experienced the worst delays . They waited nearly 12 hours to depart on a flight scheduled to take off Wednesday night at 8:15 p.m . They did n't leave until Thursday morning at 8:08 a.m. , according to airport flight departure records . Denver-bound Flight 355 was scheduled to depart Wednesday night at 8:56 p.m. , but did n't leave until more than 10 hours later , on Thursday morning at 7:29 a.m. One angry passenger was Rafael Hernandez , who was trying to get home to Chicago . Hernandez told CNN affiliate CBS4 in Miami that authorities escorted him out of the terminal after he lost his temper . `` It has been a disaster . I was so frustrated . I 'm never ever going to fly Spirit again , '' he said . `` Following the engine failure on one of our aircraft last week , and after reviewing routine maintenance procedures , we are completing a proactive and voluntary check on our aircraft engines overnight as a precautionary measure , '' wrote Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson , in an e-mail to CNN . The safety checks take about 45 minutes per aircraft , and were expected to be completed Thursday morning , she wrote . `` Some flights are experiencing significant delays as we complete the checks , '' wrote Pinson . `` Each aircraft is being returned to service as soon as the check is completed . We apologize for these delays . We are working diligently to get our customers where they need to go as quickly as possible . ... As always , the safety of our customers is our number one priority . '' Newcomer tops magazine 's U.S. airline survey . CNN 's Joe Sutton contributed to this report .
Notes : Spirit says the checks are complete and apologized for the delay . Spirit 's voluntary engine inspections caused lengthy delays . Dozens of passengers stayed at the Fort Lauderdale airport overnight . Some travelers lost their luggage but no arrests were made .