A power outage in Minneapolis disrupted air travelers throughout the United States on Tuesday as computerized reservations systems for several carriers went down . The outage occurred at Navitaire , a reservation technology company with around 60 airlines as customers . It was not clear exactly how many airlines were affected or how many flights had been canceled because of reservations and ticketing issues , but the major North American airlines affected Tuesday night appeared to be AirTran , Spirit and Toronto , Canada-based Porter Airlines . In a statement to CNN , Navitaire said the power failure occurred at a `` third party 's facility , '' and that the company was working to restore service as soon as possible . CNN iReporter Joe Garcia was an AirTran passenger who was stranded in Memphis , Tennessee , on Tuesday night . `` We were just given hotel rooms for the night . It 's a security issue , '' Garcia said . `` They claim it 's a lightning strike that knocked their system down nationwide . They could n't issue new boarding passes or clear anyone . Flights left delayed but only with people that had preprinted boarding passes . They wo n't make any guarantees that the system will be up tomorrow . '' Here is what some of the airlines that use Navitaire told CNN Tuesday evening : . AirTran : `` A power outage earlier today at our vendor 's data facility that manages our airport computer systems is causing us to process customers manually at the airport for AirTran 's operations , '' said Chris Mainz , spokesman for AirTran parent company Southwest Airlines . `` The power at the facility has been restored , and we are told that the AirTran system should be fully restored . ... We sincerely apologize to all of our customers impacted by this outage . Of course , we 'll do our best to minimize delays and accommodate impacted customers as quickly as possible . '' Spirit : `` We are currently experiencing technical issues with our reservations system as a result of a power outage with our provider that is impacting multiple airlines . All flights are operating , and we have not had any cancellations as a result of this issue , '' said Misty Pinson , Spirit Airlines spokeswoman . Porter Airlines : `` We are experiencing systemwide network outages affecting our website , Call Centre , reservation system and flight planning , '' the company said on its website . The site listed 40 flights canceled for Tuesday evening and two for Wednesday . The site gave customers a number to call -- 1-888-619-8622 -- and added , `` We are expecting a high volume of calls and thank you for your patience . '' Fire at Boston airport delays flights . Latest Boeing Dreamliner completes test flight .
Company says it occurred at a ` ` third party 's facility '' Navitaire serves some 60 destinations . United , Frontier and Porter are three of the largest airlines .