Bad timing: Frontier Airlines cancels 1 in 5 flights on day merger with Spirit announced

Frontier Airlines is basking in nationwide attention from Monday's announcement that the airline is buying budget airline rival Spirit Airlines.

But many of the airlines' passengers aren't cheering, at least today.

The Denver-based airline has canceled 22% of Monday flights, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Frontier has canceled more than 100 flights and delayed 112 more.

Frontier spokesperson Jennifer DeLaCruz blamed a technology issue, which grounded flights. In its request for a ground stop, the airline cited "automation issues," according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Unfortunately, we woke up to a system outage this morning," Frontier CEO Barry Biffle told USA TODAY.

He said the technology problem affected the airline's ability to dispatch flights.

"The system is back up now, and we are slowly restoring operations,'' he said.

Frontier passengers should check their flight status before heading to the airport. Travelers whose flights are canceled are rebooked on other airlines but also have the option of requesting a refund, even if they purchased a nonrefundable ticket.

FLIGHT CANCELED OR DELAYED? Here's what airlines owe you

A MATCH MADE IN AIRLINE (FEE) HEAVEN: Budget airlines Frontier and Spirit to merge

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Frontier cancels 100+ flights after announcing merger with Spirit