FAA's nationwide ground stop continuing impact on travelers

After the FAA placed a national ground stop for several hours Friday, 20 News reporter Lexi White talked with travelers at Bradley International Airport. Lexi, how are people reacting? Well, Kaylee, these travelers are not the happiest. Hopes of memories being made on vacation, gone. Those trying to make it back home to other states, not able to fly there. But the FAA says things should be returning back to normal in the coming days. I won't say it, but I'm pissed off. That's the cleanest I can be. Feelings are stirring up for travelers planning to fly out of Bradley International Airport just a day after the Federal Aviation Administration announcing a nationwide ground stop. The FAA calling all planes to remain on the ground around 4 p.m. Friday afternoon. Now we know more details as to why. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy saying a contractor performing maintenance somehow overloading the aging analog system, this causing communication issues, impacting all air traffic control centers. The FAA lifting the national ground stop at around 8.30 p.m. Friday night, but this isn't fixing travel issues right away. Folks coming to the airport expecting to fly out to their next destination, instead sitting here waiting in the terminals to see what their flight status reads. It updates to delayed or canceled. The effects are lingering all over the country, impacting thousands of flights. We were supposed to fly out last night, and then obviously with the FAA grounding everyone, they canceled our flight. So they put us on a flight for 9 o'clock in the morning, and that got canceled also. So they got us on a 3 o'clock flight today, which is why we're here now. And that flight being pushed back hours, making the travelers potentially miss their layover flights, leading them to figure out what's next. We go home. We miss our Vegas weekend, and we miss the Fallout Fan Festival, and we know it's nobody's fault. We understand that, but, I mean, I was taking my daughter to the Fallout Fan Festival. She's wanted to go for five years. We finally booked it this year, and it happens the weekend that we're going. While some are disappointed about long-awaited plans not following through, others are simply just trying to make it back home. We have a family here, so I can stay, but, you know, it's a trouble for them. But, you know, it's unfortunate. I can't believe what happened, you know, but it's hard. But what can we do, you know? FAA spokespeople say all air travel should return back to normal on Sunday, saying, quote, the worst is behind us, giving a bit of hope to all those eager to catch a flight. There's been three national flight groundings ordered by the FAA in recent years. The first September 11th, 2001. Then again in January 2023 and now November 13th, 2026. And as FAA spokespeople say, things should be looking up from here. Working for you, Lexi White, 22 News.