Cellular Outage Causes Disruptions To Travelers At Tulsa International Airport

One of the most important places to have your phone is the airport.

From getting a ride there, to your boarding pass, and letting loved ones know about your travels– Thursday's outage was a nightmare for travelers.

Tens of thousands of people with certain cell phone carriers weren’t able to call, text, or use data due to widespread outages that lasted for hours.

Travelers say it really made them get creative.

Travelers felt like they were going back in time on Thursday at the Tulsa International Airport.

"You can do a paper boarding pass," said Hunter Alley. "It's fine. I'll survive!"

Hunter Alley is headed to Dallas and said she couldn’t call or text loved ones but the airport’s Wi-Fi helped.

"Texts aren't going through unless I'm connected to Wi-Fi," Alley said.

Most people at the airport rely on their phones for mobile boarding passes, data for rideshare services and the ability to call and text relatives for a ride.

But that all went out the window Thursday.

"I tried to text, it wouldn't go through, wouldn't go through, I called her on messenger and then it worked," said Carolyn Major.

Hannah Keil came from Knoxville to pick up a new puppy from breeder Carolyn Major, who couldn’t call or text on her phone and the two had trouble connecting when she arrived.

"My business depends on it, I am in constant contact with the people that get my puppies," Major said.

“We’ve been waiting here for 30 minutes," Xander Hall said.

Hall said the phone issues made an annoying situation for him and his MMA teammate a thousand times worse.

“Had to drop teammates' parents at the airport. He locks his keys in his car, we have to call AAA," he said. "We gave them my number because his phone was locked in the car, and I realized I can't receive calls. I have to call them back, download a fake text now number off the Tulsa airport Wi-Fi," Hall said.

Law enforcement agencies want to remind people text to 911 may be an option and Wi-Fi calling is also available.

They say people need to plan ahead in case this sort of situation happens in the future.