FAA ground stop over, but travelers feel the fallout

Passengers arriving and departing Saturday faced continued flight delays, cancellations and missed connections as they tried to get their travel plans back on track.

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The scene inside the domestic terminal looked much different on Saturday than it did Friday. A day earlier, crowds of stranded passengers were sitting on baggage claim carousels and gathered on the floors as they waited for updates and help getting to their destinations.

While those crowds had largely cleared by Saturday, the travel disruptions were still causing headaches for passengers.

“We thought everything would be fine when we came here and now, we’re just figuring it out,” traveler Sarah Leinenbach said.

Sarah and Susan Leinenbach were trying to get from Orlando to southern Indiana.

“We had a flight from Orlando and we’re trying to get to southern Indiana, and the flights are pretty limited,” Susan Leinenbach said.

For some passengers, the problems started before they even made it to the gate.

Alexis Vinson said she spent four hours stuck aboard a plane on the tarmac at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday. She said planes were directed to the south cargo area, where passengers had to use stairs to get off instead of traditional jet bridges.

But there weren’t enough stairs available to get everyone off the planes quickly.

“Between all of us, there were only six stairs available,” Vinson said.

She also described limited communication during the ordeal and said passengers were not offered food or drinks while they waited.

“The most frustrating part about all of it was not knowing what was happening,” Vinson said.

In Kansas City, one Georgia fan found himself facing a different kind of travel dilemma.

Seth Abrams was stranded when flight disruptions threatened to keep him from making it home in time for Saturday’s big game. Rather than wait to find out when flights would resume, he decided to rent a car and make the 12- to 13-hour drive.

“I wanted to make sure that I was home for the game. I didn’t know when the ground stop would be lifted. I knew it’d be a 12- or 13-hour drive,” Abrams said.

“So we just made the decision to go grab a car and get out of dodge,” he said.

Abrams made it home just in time to watch the game with his son and friends.

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By Saturday afternoon, the rental car center at Hartsfield-Jackson appeared to have more inventory available, with several rental companies showing cars for travelers.

Still, the return to normal operations has not been immediate. Even after the nationwide ground stop ended, passengers across the country continued dealing with the delays and cancellations left in its wake.

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