PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Airports across the country are working to get back on track after the Federal Aviation Administration called for a nationwide groundstop, and Philadelphia International Airport is no exception.
Thousands of flyers were left stranded at PHL after the longest groundstop in 25 years on Friday, lasting more than four hours.
Frederick Cruickshank is just one of the exhausted passengers at the airport. He was supposed to return home to Charlotte, North Carolina, from Europe Saturday afternoon, but instead made an unexpected pit stop in Philadelphia.
He blames the Trump administration for the disruption.
“It’s their own fault,” he said. “Our country is in turmoil right now. Hopefully it’ll get better in two years, but it is what it is.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the total groundstop was caused by disruptions during upgrades to the FAA communication system.
According to FlightAware, at the time of writing, more than 1,700 flights have been cancelled within, into, or out of the United States; more than 5,000 flights have been delayed.
Another stranded flyer, Mike Parlante, spent more than a day watching tensions boil at PHL while he tried to get home from Dallas.
“I would say that a lot of the people that were working and getting… the brunt of people’s frustrations, they did a good job,” he said.
The FAA says any residual disruptions are expected to be cleared up by the end of Sunday.
Airlines are required by law to offer free rebooking or refunds for flights that were cancelled.
The FAA says any remaining disruptions are expected to clear up by the end of Sunday
The FAA says any remaining disruptions are expected to clear up by the end of Sunday
