Flight disruptions ease at San Antonio International Airport after nationwide ground stop

Flight disruptions continued Saturday at San Antonio International Airport after a nationwide data overload prompted a nearly four-hour ground stop Friday, but airport officials said conditions were improving.

Up to 15 flights were canceled at the airport Saturday, down from Friday, when officials said up to 30 flights were disrupted locally.

The problem triggered a ripple effect across the country, delaying or canceling thousands of flights and leaving travelers scrambling to rebook, find hotel rooms or change plans.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said officials do not believe the outage was caused by a cyberattack.

More than 15,000 U.S. flights were delayed or canceled Friday, and about 3,000 more were expected to be affected Saturday as airlines worked to recover from the backlog.

Among the travelers caught in the disruption were Randy Reynolds and his wife, Scarlett, who were in San Antonio for a conference and were trying to return home to Tennessee.

“We just looked at it as an additional mini vacation,” Randy Reynolds shared. “We get to do something we’ve never done before, which is be stuck on Friday the 13th, the massive outage across the country.”

The couple considered driving home, but there wasn’t even a rental car available for them, so they had to stay an extra night. “The rooms were kind of hard to find as well, because it was about 9 o’clock last night,” Randy said.

Duffy said it will take time for air travel to return to normal, but he said the disruption is not expected to affect Thanksgiving travel. He also said officials cannot rule out a similar problem happening again and urged Congress to invest $50 billion in system upgrades.

“Investments weren’t made, which is why we are here today,” Duffy said. “Let’s make the investments and look forward to a brighter future in aviation, a safer future, a more efficient future in aviation.”

Travelers heading to the airport this weekend are urged to check their airline apps before leaving, allow extra time, pack a charger, and bring spare clothes in case delays last longer than expected.

Read more:

• Flights can resume after data overload on systems forced nationwide ground stop, FAA says
• San Antonio airport passengers react to FAA grounding flights
• What are your rights if your flight was grounded, delayed by the FAA?