"It seems the passengers are the people taking lowest priority here," said one woman queuing at Dublin Airport yesterday.
Ms Jean Fitzgerald, from Dublin, was one of hundreds of people who stood for an average of 4½ hours hoping to change their Aer Lingus flights and somehow fly out with another airline from Dublin this weekend.
The queue from the Aer Lingus ticket sales and reservations desk stretched and wound its way through the departures hall.
Hundreds of patient people wondered if, even after their long wait, they would be accommodated.
Some were rebooked on connecting flights, forcing them to overnight in British cities at their own expense.
As if this wasn't bad enough, at 1.25 p.m. the computer system at the desk collapsed for half an hour.
Ms Fitzgerald and Ms Hilary Hughes, also from Dublin, had planned a week in Detroit in the US to visit friends.
They were supposed to leave today but rebooked themselves on another flight with British Airways by phone through Aer Lingus that morning.
"The only thing is I'm having to pay for this myself so it's all extra. That's an extra €329 each and then because we can't get a connecting flight we're having to stay in London overnight which is more expense," Ms Hughes said. Ms Fitzgerald said it was the passengers who were suffering.
One passenger finally made it to the desk after four hours of waiting only to be told the computer system had gone down.
Mr Terry Woods, originally from Skerries but now working in Philadelphia, said he was just about to be rebooked and they were sorting out several connections when it all collapsed and he had to wait again.
Originally he was booked to fly out to Boston and then on to Philadelphia.
"Now I have to fly to Bristol by BA on Sunday, spend the night at my own expense, then on to Amsterdam, to Boston and then Philadelphia.
"I've had to ring my office there to tell them I'll be two days late," Mr Woods said.
A Galway couple, Daniel and Patsy Doherty, said they had been on a 1 p.m. flight to London but hoped to be on a British Airways flight to Gatwick at 3.30 p.m.
"We rang Aer Lingus this morning so we're waiting to see. I hope they were telling the truth," said Mr Doherty.
Ms Doherty said the staff were "very, very slow" at the desk. They eventually made it to the desk at 2.15 p.m.
James and Anne Gabriel from Boston said they were supposed to fly home yesterday.
Their travel agent had rebooked them.
Now they were going from Dublin to Gatwick, having to stay overnight and leave from Heathrow to Boston today.
"I asked if there was any possibility of reimbursement but I doubt it," Mr Gabriel said.
A German man, who gave his name as Thomas, said he had been booked on a flight to Frankfurt.
He tried all day Thursday to ring the Aer Lingus helpline but it was either busy or nobody was answering.
"As far as I can see I'm certainly not going to be able to get a flight this weekend.
"It will probably be the end of the week," he said.
An Aer Lingus spokeswoman said there would be another ticket desk opened today.
The airline would also draft in from other areas staff who had ticketing experience.
"We are advising people not to turn up at the airport unless they have a confirmed reservation which includes those made over the phone.
"But don't turn up on spec," she said.