‘The world says stop, I stop’: After ground stop, travelers see smoother Sunday at Atlanta airport

A sense of normal returned to Atlanta’s airport Sunday as the number of cancellations dropped considerably and travelers were able to get on to their destinations.

The nationwide ground stop Friday caused more than 750 flight cancellations at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but by early Sunday afternoon, that number dropped to around 120, most of those Delta flights.

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The Federal Aviation Administration’s chief said he expects all air travel in the U.S. to return to normal schedules by Sunday night.

Many travelers left stranded in Atlanta Friday afternoon were able to board flights Sunday. Breina Gresham of Atlanta was on about to embark for Baltimore when the ground stop happened.

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“I was supposed to be at work by at least 5 p.m. Friday, but here I am Sunday morning,” she said.

She tried to book another flight Saturday but had no luck.

“They were so booked,” she said. “When I say everything was booked and busy, every time I tried to go book another one, somebody had already booked it. Seats were full, so I had to wait.”

She did manage to snag an 11a.m. flight Sunday.

“There was nothing I could do,” she said of the disruption. “If the world says stop, I stop. Now I’m back on the road.”

Lines at the security checkpoints were short throughout the weekend, with wait times at the main domestic checkpoint ranging from 10 to 15 minutes.

Noah Rojas was stranded all day Saturday on his way back home to Los Angeles from Miami.

“It was a major situation,” Rojas said. “I was in Miami trying to get back to L.A. Standby and after standby, I’m just trying to get back home. I came to Atlanta for a little bit, stayed overnight here and hopefully trying to get on this next flight now.”

He boarded a flight around 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Allison Wallace flew out of Italy on Friday when she learned of the ground stop.

“So I was on my way home for the holidays, and yeah I had two flights, and my first and second were delayed and my third was on time. So I got off my second flight, and my third flight had taken off 20 minutes before my flight.”

Delta Airlines is urging passengers will flexible travel plans to book flights on Monday or later.

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