Travelers caught up in the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stop heading into the weekend faced more than delayed departures. Some scrambled to find alternate ways home, while others
spent hours in crowded airport terminals, worried they would miss important events or be unable to reach their destinations.
The FAA lifted the ground stop Friday evening, more than four hours after it began. But disruptions continued into Saturday, Nov. 14, as airlines worked through delayed and canceled flights, leaving passengers to reconsider travel plans and search for alternate flights, hotel rooms or other transportation options. More than 8,000 flights into or out of the United States had been delayed or canceled on Saturday, according to FlightAware, with major hubs including Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare, New York's JFK and Dallas-Fort Worth among those affected.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said airlines could still cancel up to 5,000 of the roughly 41,000 flights scheduled for Saturday as they repositioned crews. He expected airlines to return to their full schedules by the end of Sunday, Nov. 15.
Nearly 7,000 flights across the country were delayed or canceled amid the ground stop, Reuters reported. The FAA has not released a separate count of how many passengers were affected.
For some travelers, waiting for another flight was no longer the best option.
Some travelers traded flights for long drives
Bob Myers was about three minutes away from boarding his flight to Portland, Oregon, at Palm Springs International Airport when he learned that he would not be taking off anytime soon. Myers, who lives in Salem, Oregon, had spent a week playing golf in the Palm Springs area. He decided to rent a car for what he expected to be a 20-hour drive home, The Desert Sun reported.
"I have no idea when this is going to be resolved," Myers told The Desert Sun.
Ami Lynne Eddington also decided to make the trip home by car, according to The Desert Sun. After flying from Salt Lake City to Palm Springs for a business trip, she planned to take an Uber to Moreno Valley, California, to pick up a one-way rental car.
Eddington had family obligations Saturday and estimated that the drive back to Salt Lake City would take 10 to 11 hours. Her airline had offered to rebook her through Denver, potentially putting her on a flight around 11 p.m. before another connection, The Desert Sun reported.
"I'm going to get there just as fast at this point driving, and I know I'm going to get there," Eddington told the newspaper.
Paul Tompkins, who had traveled from Vancouver, British Columbia, to watch the WTA Finals, was already facing a four-hour flight delay that threatened his connection in San Francisco when the ground stop was issued, The Desert Sun reported.
"So we knew that we weren't going to get home tonight," Tompkins told the newspaper.
Instead, Tompkins planned to take an Uber to Los Angeles, stay with relatives and catch a direct flight to Vancouver on Saturday.
Passengers wait for answers in crowded airports
The disruption left travelers waiting in packed terminals as they tried to figure out whether their flights would depart.
In Ohio, Ingrid Jacoby, a pianist traveling from London, told The Columbus Dispatch that three flights had been canceled before she finally arrived at John Glenn Columbus International Airport around 1 a.m. Saturday. She had been awake for more than 30 hours and needed to get to Granville for a concert.
The Dispatch reported that nearby hotel rooms were costing hundreds of dollars, so Jacoby spent the night at the airport.
Other travelers were trying to avoid similar disruptions. Tiffany Kroeger, who was traveling to Cancun from Columbus, told The Dispatch that her flight was scheduled to depart on time Saturday morning. But after the previous day's events, she was hesitant to trust the schedule.
"I think I'll believe it when I see it," Kroeger said.
Families and travelers with important plans face uncertainty
For some passengers, the delays threatened more than a change in itinerary.
Kory Lapred, 34, and his family were trying to get to Orlando for a cruise departing from Port Canaveral. They worried that a canceled flight could cause them to miss their ship, The Detroit News reported.
Sandy Navarro, 35, of Los Angeles, was in Detroit for surgery and was trying to get home. She was in pain and faced difficulty finding a hotel room as other stranded passengers also searched for lodgings. She eventually secured a room at a Holiday Inn Express in Allen Park, according to the newspaper.
Not every passenger's experience ended with another night at a hotel, in an airport or with a long drive. Jagjit Singh, 30, was traveling from Vancouver with two layovers to attend a family wedding in Wisconsin. After boarding around 9 p.m. Friday, passengers applauded, The Detroit News reported.
"Everyone was clapping; we were very happy," Singh told the newspaper.
Other travelers worried that they would miss long-awaited events. Randall Woodard, 49, was trying to get from Detroit to Munich, Germany, to watch the Lions play the New England Patriots on Nov. 15, which was also his 50th birthday, the Detroit Free Press reported.
"I wouldn't miss this trip for the world," Woodard told the newspaper as he waited in line to check his bag at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. He had arrived shortly after the ground stop was announced and was unsure whether his flight would be affected.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com or on X @athompsonUSAT
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stranded at the airport: FAA ground stop derails travel plans
