To them for understanding the situation
In all, four flights and approximately 300 passengers were delayed, with two planes full of passengers kept on the ramp as the situation unfolded. Airport authority spokesperson Joanne Barnes thanked them for their patience in a press conference the same day.
"I'd like to say thank you to them for their patience, it's a cold day and we recognize that," Barnes said. "We apologize for the inconvenience and are grateful to them for understanding the situation."
Leigh Matkovich, a Vancouver, B.C. resident who was waiting in the lounge at the time for an evening flight home with a friend, said the rush caught him off guard.
"We looked up and everybody was kind of rushing for the doors and everyone was getting shooed out of the gates," he said. "It was quite cold, our fingertips and toes were turning into ice cubes, but everyone pulled through and persevered."
Miranda Smith, from Fort McMurray, was still waiting for her two sons, delayed in Calgary during the incident, hours later.
"(They were) in Calgary waiting to connect to Fort Mac," she said. "They were delayed, they called me all in a panic, 'We're delayed, oh no!' They were told it was happening at the airport here."
Airlines have been running at max capacity as the airport goes through one of its busiest seasons of the year, according to Werny, who said a delay like this is frustrating.