FAA ground stop: AZ travelers face delays

The Federal Aviation Administration again, canceled all flights nationwide because of this telecommunications issue at regional air traffic control centers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy did say there is a communications issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide. So they made this ground stop call out of an abundance of caution and for safety. Yeah, this is the first nationwide ground stop since January of 2023. That's when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned before that the last time. It was just after the September 11th attacks in 2001. So if you're thinking this is a significant moment, it is. Yeah, definitely. All planes are grounded until further notice. And again, this has been going on since just about two o'clock our time. So still no sign of when this could lift. All planes grounded right now and planes that were in the air are able to land. Yeah. And again, no word on how long this will last. But we do have Brian Webb, who's live at Sky Harbor Airport for us right now. He's been checking in with passengers. You said you saw what you thought. With some of the members of the ASU football team leaving just a second ago, are people starting to leave the airport as this wait gets longer and longer? You know, we just saw our second or maybe third ASU team go down the escalator just now, so they're going back down to where the baggage claim is. Looks like their trip, wherever it might have been, is over for now. We heard about this ground stoppage this afternoon. Do you expect to come out here and see anger and outrage, people stuck here, stranded, worried about getting home. It hasn't been that way where we are. Terminal 4, as a live look, just looks like an average normal day at Sky Harbor Airport. The action, though, is happening If there is any, it's behind the gates. And this is video we have from Donald Woodard. We have interviewed him earlier, I know. But he's the one giving me most of my information on what's going on back there. He said he was on an airplane and the pilot had to come out and tell the cabin that they weren't going anywhere. And the pilot did mention something about the Microsoft outage from yesterday as being part of this. Yes. So for someone like that, they were told by Southwest, I think he's flying Southwest, that they could... Try to rebook a flight, but that would include waiting in a long line. Plus, he said, their luggage is already on the plane, so Southwest doesn't want you to do that once your luggage is on the plane. So they're kind of stuck, you know, and he lives here. So what do you do? You go home? Do you wait it out? Hope for the best? Kind of in limbo back there. We did also talk to another man who seems to know about these computer kind of things, another traveler, and he brought up the Microsoft connection as well. So that seems to be a theme floating around Sky Harbor Airport, at least among the travelers, and here he is from about an hour ago. I think that the airlines also have a level of Microsoft dependability, and at least even basic platforms, you know, there's a lot of software that kind of puts the foundation and groundwork. So I did just take a peek at the departure boards back there. Again, it's the same. A lot of those flights say they're delayed maybe an hour, maybe two. That may be wishful thinking. It may be reality. We're just not sure. And then again, yeah, I mean, it's been fairly smooth sailing up here. We saw the ASU teams go by. We interviewed some young ladies who had just had a tour of GCU trying to get back home to Sacramento, I believe. And then just, you know, the usual kind of thing. People halfway home, not knowing what to do, what their next move is going to be. But I must admit, it has been fairly smooth sailing, people taking this all in stride so far, at least where we are at Sky Harbor in Terminal 4. Back to you guys. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, he says that this ground stop was issued because of that telecommunication issue. Again, very important. They're stressing this, that there is no threat to the U.S. and this is not linked to yesterday's disruptive Microsoft outage. We have not discussed any timeframe. I'll just think about this as a whole. If I have a loved one at the airport, just to get everybody started back up in the ground and the flights going again, it's going to take some time. And so this isn't going to just be resolved and turned around within the hour. This is going to take some time. But once again, everybody is safe. The flights are accounted for. And there should be no fear to the public at all in this one. And Secretary Mullen says that their first plan of action is to get all of the planes on the ground as they try to restore communications. Fox News' Taylor Wertz is talking with travelers as well. She's live for us at Sky Harbor Airport. And earlier, Taylor, I mean, folks are still heading through security. I know the next update from Sky Harbor, they said they would make an announcement around 9 o'clock tonight. But folks are still hopeful. Yeah, it's kind of a mixed bag, guys. We've talked to a lot of people who did not hear about this ground stop until they were already in the Uber on the way to the airport, or some of them even didn't hear it until they heard the announcement over the PA at the airport itself. So we have seen some optimistic people going through security, but you can tell that the TSA line right now is pretty empty, and you can just see a lot of crowds, a lot of people just kind of hanging around waiting. That PA announcement has just been telling people to check in with their individual airlines. So right now, I think Everyone is just hoping to get more information. But take a look at this flight board right now. We're seeing not a lot of straight cancellations, maybe a couple of those, but a lot of delays. Take a look at this one, pretty nasty, from San Luis Obispo coming in here to Phoenix. It was scheduled to take off at 325. Now it's estimated to take off at 1039. So that's about a seven-hour estimated delay right now, of course. We know that that could change if this gets resolved sooner, and that's what a lot of travelers are hoping for. Or I did speak with a couple that is. Hoping to hop on a flight to Miami was supposed to take off at 4 p.m. That flight was canceled. Here's what they had to tell me. Trying to get home back to Oregon and we're not getting on a flight. I think we were on the last plane that was even boarded too. We're just like, wait, what's taking so long? Then you find out they're all grounded. So now we're trying to either rent a car that we just turned in to get one back. We called them and they said there's no cars available, but we're going to go down and try and find out anyway. We're going to try and get an Uber. Uber says it's $90 to go to our hotel, which is ridiculous. So that's actually a couple, as you heard, they're trying to get home to Oregon. They had a great trip in the valley and they are at a loss right now. Just turned in their car. Now they're trying to get another car. A lot of people were telling me that they could not get a rental car. I think the line is pretty long there right now. And I did pull up Uber because they mentioned that Uber is surging right now. So I put in my address, which is about a 30 minute, a $30 ride normally right now for an Uber X it's showing about $67 just to get home. And if you look at the top of the app, it is saying that fares are higher than usual, and that is because of increased demand. So Ubers are surging. Attitudes are mixed here, but for the most part, most people we've talked with have been pretty positive. They've enjoyed their trips, and now they're just hoping that they can get where they're going. We'll be sticking around and talking to travelers and let you know how things progress. Fox 10's Nicole Christine is live at Mesa Gateway Airport tonight. Nicole, what's the situation like there now? Well, Christina and Steve, this is very similar to what we saw about a half hour ago when we checked in. There are still people that are here behind us in the baggage claim area. They're actually waiting to get their bags from their flights that are now coming off of the planes, and then they're going to try to decide what to do next. We spoke earlier about the fact that, you know, Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport, it does have far fewer flights than a big hub like Sky Harbor, but these flights are just as important to the people who are getting on them. We've We've talked to people who were headed to funerals, to weddings, to other... Other big life events, and now those are delayed or potentially even canceled. They have only canceled one departure and one arrival as far as Allegiant so far here. The rest just say delayed, but as we've said, that seems to be maybe wishful thinking at this point, but perhaps it will be able to happen in the next few hours. Of course, we'll continue to update people, but as we talk to people, I have to echo what Brian Webb said. There's a mix of emotions, but a lot of people are really taking it in stride, saying that That, you know, there's some people who are. We're headed to much colder temperatures, saying, well, we're happy to be able to stay in the nice weather. Other people who live here and we're headed somewhere saying, I guess we'll just do a staycation at home. But there are others who are just really upset. And some people who, despite the information coming down from federal agents, are just kind of worried about what's going on. Take a listen. Just nobody knows what's going on. And it's scary nowadays. You don't know, especially the. The air traffic control goes down. I mean, that's major. That is huge. So we just want to give it a day or two. We were to go to Fargo, North Dakota for a wedding this weekend, leave today, come back Sunday. We're not. So parents of the groom, they had friends coming from London. They are ground-stopped in Chicago, have been since early this morning. So, yeah, that's unfortunate. Unfortunate, probably an understatement for a lot of these people. And I do want to clear something specific up. We had heard from some people, some travelers here, who were saying that they had been told or had maybe heard that Sky Harbor was going to have incoming planes come there until they were full, and then they were going to bring them here to Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport. So I reached out directly to the communications team here. They said that that is highly unlikely that they have not heard, at this point at least, of any requests like that from Sky Harbor. So people who might be concerned. I'm concerned about an influx of planes coming to a smaller airport like this. As of right now, that should not be a concern for you, but of course the greater concern is when all of this will wrap up. We'll continue to talk to people out here, but also to provide updates as they come. Live at Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport, Nicole Christine, Fox 10 News.