SANFORD, Fla. -- One of Orlando-Sanford International Airport's largest airlines suddenly cancelled all of its flights Friday, much to the surprise of some of its passengers.

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The first flight out of the airport was supposed to be at 11:15 Friday morning. But TransMeridian Airlines' abrupt decision to cease operations had even employees scratching their heads.

"It's not fun. I never thought I would go through something like this today," said stranded passenger Jessie Thuenemann.

Thuenemann weeklong vacation in Central Florida went smoothly, until she tried returning to southern Illinois. She was given a flyer notifying her, and dozens of other passengers, that all TransMeridian flights into and out of Orlando-Sanford International Airport had been cancelled.

The Atlanta-based, low-fare airline grounded it's entire fleet as of Friday without an explanation and without a call to its customers.

Brianna Bielec drove from St. Petersburg to pick up a friend flying in from Syracuse. She said she paid $300 for his ticket Thursday.

"All the money in my credit card went towards this ticket, instead of my car payment, rent, all that. I put it towards this ticket," Bielec said.

Stranded passengers were glued to the telephone looking for another flight home. TMA employees were also in the dark.

"We don't know. We don't have any more info from them," said employee Pablo Zalce.

Zalce and 14 other workers will have a more difficult task. Some showed up for work not knowing if they were going to get paid or when they would find another job.

"We're gonna be here, helping the airport, assisting passengers with info. We cannot do anything else," Zalce said.

TransMeridian Airlines issued a statement on its website Friday. The carrier said it was forced to shut down due to unsuccessful negotiations to restructure its debt.

Allegiant Air announced it would help stranded passengers. The carrier will proved a $50 one-way travel from Orlando-Sanford International Airport to some destinations through November 21.