SOUTH TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — What was supposed to be a short flight home from Cancun turned into a 24-hour-and-counting journey for Kameran Hardwick. He was headed to Atlanta Friday afternoon when his flight was diverted to Miami.
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop early Friday evening, leading to thousands of flight delays and cancellations across the country. Flights resumed around 8:30 Friday night.
"And who plans for that, you can't really plan for the whole country being shut down. With no time limit and it kind of just happened you're in the sky one minute and then you're on the ground in Miami," Hardwick said.
Hardwick then spent the next 17 hours at the Miami airport, where he said passengers were left waiting with few options.
"People with families like sleeping on the floor there was no accommodations. You couldn't even yell at American or Delta because they couldn't even respond to that. The whole airport was shut down," Hardwick said.
Hardwick finally made it to Tallahassee Saturday morning. But with the next available flight to Atlanta not until Sunday night or Monday morning, he decided to take a bus instead.
"Hop on a greyhound bus for $33 and it's still gonna get me an hour from where I have to go," Hardwick said.
Hardwick wasn't the only traveler forced to change plans. Brian Waterman also faced delays in Atlanta, but was able to drive to Tallahassee instead.
"I was lucky to be able to get out. I'm glad I did. Otherwise, I'd be sleeping in the airport right now, being cranky and groggy, trying to navigate that process," Waterman said.
On Saturday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a faulty router caused a communications outage that prompted the ground stop. Duffy said he expects airline service to clear its backlog by late Sunday.
At the Tallahassee International Airport, operations appear to be returning to normal, with only a handful of cancellations and delays reported.
As operations continue to return to normal, airlines are reminding travelers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
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